Out To Get You
by mysticgirl101
Summary: Inspired by Gibbs' Rule#40. Tiva have a little girl,and she is kidnapped,for reasons unknown. Will she survive? Will her parents survive her kidnappers revenge. will the team remain intact or will it fall apart? 1stNCIS fanfic.please R&R.I Don't Own NCIS
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

**Hi everyone, this is a story that I have had in my head probably since I started watching NCIS about 4 months ago. We watch them as they are on twice a day 5 days a week. I was hooked from about the second episode, I especially started to love it when Ziva came in and I so think Ziva and Tony should get together.**

**Well hope you like it. **

Chapter 1 - Prologue

Talia Kaitlyn lay on the bed listening to the world go by, it felt strange that while she was stuck in this hole with no way out the rest of the world continued on its way. This was just proof that although when you were little the world seemed to revolve around you as everyone, cooed and fussed over you, the world actually didn't revolve around you, it kept spinning, and people carried on moving, not knowing that one person might be in danger, on the brink, of death.

She rolled over, she had been in here for what felt like years, but she knew it couldn't have been more than a few days. Everywhere hurt from the beating that she had taken, though she supposed it could have been much worse, if her mother hadn't taught her how to fight. It hurt more than the beating to think of her mother and father. She hoped that they hadn't been hurt during her abduction, she hoped her Uncle Gibbs would be there to help them, if something happened to her, both of her parents were strong especially her mother, but everyone had always said that she had changed her parents, in a good way she had been assured, they said she had made them more normal.

She tried not to think about the incident that had torn her from her family. But every time she closed her eyes she saw, the whole thing replaying in slow motion in front of her as though taunting her.

She heard the sound of shouting and then the sound of a key in the lock; she sat up ignoring the pain that tried to pull her back down. She was her parents' daughter, and if she was going down then she was going down like a true DiNozzo. She was not going down without a fight.

**Hope you liked it, I thought id just do a very quick first chapter, let me know if you think I should continue.**

**Please Review**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	2. Chapter 2 Family

**Hi please R&R. Thanks Dixie Dewdrop and for the reviews.**

Chapter 2 –

36 hours earlier

''Talia Kaitlyn DiNozzo''

'uh oh' Tali thought, 3 words, her 3 full names, and one very pissed sounding father, her brain quickly worked out the odds of this not ending in her in trouble. Not high.

''yes'' she said trying to sound as innocent as possible, whilst widening her eyes and pouting her bottom lip slightly in a way that nearly always made her father smile, and got her anything she wanted. She could see her father struggling to stay serious, as she gave him what everyone called 'the charm', she smiled sweetly, her mother was leaning against the wall, a smile at her daughter's antics on her face. Her father raised an eyebrow in an effort to stay focused. ''Tali'' he began ''is it true what your teacher told us''?

Tali frowned ''bout what'' she asked ''apparently you attacked a girl, at break today'' ''oh that'' Tali said relaxing ''umm define attack'' Tony rolled his eyes at his daughter, she was so like her mother, fierce, strong and stubborn. He shook his head to focus before replying ''slapping her, shoving her, throwing her around''.

He saw Tali relax, ''not true'' she said cheerfully ''well I did shove her around but I call it self defence''.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Ziva move into the room, ''what was she doing to you'' Tali gazed at him with his own clear hazel eyes ''Beth Andrews is the school bully, she chooses a new victim every week, and she gets away with it cus her dad is like mega rich, she was trying to beat up a new girl, basically two of her 'friends' hold the victim while she torments them, mostly by verbal abuse but also pinching them. I stepped in cus I was asked to show the new student around so I didn't think it would look good for me to have her beaten up on my watch''.

Tali paused for breath; she could see everything replaying in her mind in front of her:

_There were kids watching, horrified but to afraid to do anything, as Beth tormented another victim, Tali moved through the crowd 'scuse me' she called as she reached the front 'um I'm meant to be showing her round so, if you don't mind Beth I'll take over from here' Beth turned to face her 'back off DiNozzo' she snarled but Tali stood firmly where she was, 'why don't you go pick on someone your own breed Andrews' she replied calmly, there were gasps and whispers from the watching students as Beth moved forward, 'take that back, then run, little DiNozzo' she whispered 'nah' Tali said a small wicked grin on her face 'I don't take back the truth Beth, my parents taught me never to tell lies'._

_Beth made to slap her but her shocked expression was reflected on everyone else's face as Tali's arm shot up blocking the attack 'don't try that again' she warned but Beth did, with a small groan Tali used all the moves her mother had taught her as her arm came round again she caught hold off the older girl, she ducked under her second swing, before twisting her arm around and behind her and pressing her against the wall 'don't try and take me on' she whispered 'I have been trained to fight since I could walk' she knocked the girl's legs out from beneath her before walking to the new girl gently taking her arm and leading her away. 'Hey Tali' she heard a boy shout 'where'd you learn to fight like that'? 'my mum' she called back 'she used to be in Mossad' she heard 'whoa' and 'no way' from behind but she didn't care, as far as she was concerned her work was done, take out the school bully._

She explained what she had done to her parents telling then exactly what she had and hadn't done to the girl, by the time she was finished her parents weren't annoyed at her, they were exasperated, but they knew she had meant well, they didn't have the heart to tell her off. Ziva bent her head towards her 12 year old daughter gently kissing the top of her head, as she did so she whispered ''I hope there is not a next time but if there is then try not to leave marks as evidence'' ''I heard that'' Tony called as he walked toward the stairs no doubt to go watch some movie on TV. Tali grinned ''got it'' she whispered. Ziva smiled at her, touching her cheek softly before moving down the stairs after her husband.

The next morning Ziva got up early, so she could go out for a jog, since she had had Tali, this was not something she had been able to do so often, especially when Tali was very young. It had been a shock to discover 12 years ago after another undercover mission with Tony that she was pregnant, Tony had been so shocked that he had been unable to speak, which was a first for him.

He had been silent for so long that she had run away crying, thinking that he would just leave her to raise a child alone, he had come tearing after her and told her that he loved her and had done since he had first laid eyes on her. He had promised never to leave her, and he never had.

They had married in secret, and Ziva had arranged to have some time off, telling everyone that she wanted to go back to Israel to visit her family for a few months when really she was in the apartment she and Tony now shared. They hadn't told anyone that they were going to have a baby, knowing Gibbs would give them very hard Gibbs-slaps; McGee would probably faint and never let them hear the end of it. Abby would be furious that she hadn't known sooner, or that she hadn't been invited to the wedding.

Tali had been born 7 months later, it had been Tony's idea to name her Tali and she had been touched that he would name his daughter after her sister, it had felt right to name her that. It had also felt right to, in return give her the middle name Kaitlyn after Tony's old partner, who Ziva knew had liked.

After that they had to tell their team. Tony had gone in as usual, and at lunch Ziva had sauntered back into the building with Tali in her arms. Abby had been in the bullpen and they had thought that Tali would either be crushed by her when she gave Ziva one of her bone-crunching hugs or after she had noticed her, kidnapped by Abby who had taken the tiny child, and held her until Ziva had explained that the child was hers, she had taken her back though because when she had answered McGee's question of 'who's the father' McGee had nearly fainted and Abby had nearly dropped her.

Gibbs hadn't said anything but when he had heard that but of news and that they were married and he had noticed Tony slipping away, he had called him back, given Tony 2 head slaps (one for Ziva because she was holding Tali so he couldn't head slap her). Then he had given them a lecture about breaking Rule 12. They had managed to get him to stop and he softened up a bit when they told him that he was her godfather. As he was still grumpy Ziva had said that she wanted to get back to work and handed the baby to Gibbs, where she had remained until they left.

After that she had come to the office almost every other day, she had come to know the team as her family, when they were needed at the weekend, she would go sit with Abby, who had taught her so much science, she was top of her year at school in it.

Ziva was amazed at how happy she was now, she had heard that children are either the best or worst thing that can happen to you, she now knew that Tali was the best thing that had happened to her. She adored her daughter and couldn't imagine life now without her. She loved Tony as well, he was so sweet and charming, and Tali was just like him, which she had decided wasn't always a good thing.

She finished her run and went home, as she slipped in she listened for any sounds of life, both Tony and Tali were still asleep, she shook her head before going for a shower. Afterward she went and pushed the door to Tali's room open and smiled.

Tali was curled up and the covers sleeping soundly, Ziva studied her daughter, identifying certain features. She was a perfect mix of her and Tony, she had Tony's sparkling hazel eyes, and her hair which was the same colour as her own had natural streaks of light brown in it, but the hair was the same as her own, quite naturally frizzy but shining with the little unique V shape above her forehead. She also had Tony's cheeky smile. She had Ziva's strong determined facial features, and a similar tough but slender build. When it came to her personality, that was difficult everyone said but she and McGee both agreed she was all Tony, she acted exactly the same as him always pulling practical jokes on poor McGee. Tony thought she was all Ziva though, especially after she learned to fight.

She was perfect, Ziva thought, smiling. She sensed someone approaching and turned to smile at Tony as he staggered out of their room grumbling about it being to get early, he gave her a quick but passionate kiss before stumbling off to get coffee. Ziva woke Tali up ''come on'' she coaxed as the girl groaned and burrowed deeper into her bed ''don't be a lazy skull''. A smile spread across Tali's face and she heard Tony shout ''lazy _bones_ Zee, how long have you been in this country?'' she rolled her eyes before pulling the covers off of Tali causing her to squeal and then moan ''I'm up. I'm up'' she then followed her husband into the kitchen.

An hour later they had dropped Tali off at school, warned her not to attack anyone, and were standing in the elevator riding up to their floor. Ziva was happy; she had a great family with a brilliant husband, a beautiful daughter. And she had a job she loved. The one thing that bothered her was her family in Israel. Her father had been livid when he found out she was pregnant, especially because the father was Tony of to her father, Rivkin's killer. He had pushed her towards having an abortion, Mossad agents were not meant to have children, they were a distraction, the only time agents were allowed to have children was when the child would grow with the intention to join Mossad drilled into them, as she had been. Eli David had threatened her, that one day he would come for her child, if she didn't abort the baby, she had refused. No way was she going to kill her child. There was always a worry that her father would come for Tali but for now she was safe.

Or was she?

**Hope you like it, please let me know, should Eli David be the one to take Tali or should someone else take her, let me know, please review. Open to any and all suggestions.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	3. Chapter 3 Being a Mother

**Hi thanks for all the reviews, bit confused though, I have two separate views on where to go with this, help! Don't know who to agree with. More reviews on what you think I should do please help. Probably not Eli though for this story, might do another set after this one if people like this one.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own NCIS – Just Talia Kaitlyn**

**Thanks**

Chapter 3 –

The day passed uneventfully for the team, Tony was sitting at his desk listening to someone nattering away, going on and on about probably nothing. His eyelids were slowly drooping as he began to fall asleep ''yes Mrs Richards that sounds horrible'' '_oh my god' _he mouthed at Ziva and she bit back a laugh ''I just want to know if you know where your son might be now'' the women on the other end began to natter again and Tony slammed his head against the table softly, giggling quietly Ziva looked at the clock ''uh Gibbs'' she asked ''can I go get Tali''

Gibbs looked at her ''you don't have to ask for permission to be a mother Ziver'' he said using his special nickname for her ''oh yes sorry'' Ziva grabbed her jacket and her gear ''rule 6 DiNozzo'' he called after her, causing her to laugh.

It wasn't to busy when she goy to the school, so she found a spot quite close to the main entrance, where she waited, patiently for her daughter, she didn't have to wait long. The bell rang after about 5 minutes and Tali was one of the first out; she was with a shy looking girl that Ziva suspected was the girl she had saved from the bully. The two girls said their goodbyes and moved in their separate directions, Tali began to search the lot, looking for her, so Ziva honked the horn; Tali grinned and ran forward leaping into the front and throwing her bag into the back 'hi' she said cheerfully 'are we going back to NCIS?' 'Yep' Ziva responded 'careful of your father though' she warned, 'he lost a bet to McGee so he has to do most of his work, which involved talking to a very old lady who was still talking to him and hadn't answered any of his questions when I left'

Tali laughed and they were off. They were halfway there when the phone rang 'do you want to get that' Ziva asked, not taking her eyes off the road, which was a relief to Tali, she had grown up with her mothers driving and she was still not totally used to it, she pulled her mothers phone out of her bag and glanced at the number it was her Uncle Gibbs. She opened the phone to hear his grumpy voice saying 'Ziva where are you, we have a call, and we need you back now' with a smile at her uncles impatience she said 'hi Uncle Gibbs it's me'. He answered in a much softer warmer tone 'hey Tali how was school' she pulled a face 'it was school so boring' he chuckled 'where are you sweetheart' she looked out the window 'dunno we are driving way to fast for me to tell, I think that was Seward Square that just flew by so we will be with you very soon' 'don't be cheeky' Ziva chided giving her daughter a cheeky Gibbs slap whilst grinning at her. Tali could hear Gibbs chuckling 'see you soon then sweetheart' 'yep see ya Bye' Tali hung up, 'there is a dead marine and they want you back soon' she recited, 'got it' Ziva grinned and if it was even possible, pushed the pedal down further, causing Tali to groan and clutch the arm rest.

They arrived at the NCIS building and after quickly dropping Tali off with Abby, much to the scientist's delight; they went to the crime scene.

As he snapped photos of the young female Petty Officer, Tony allowed his mind to wonder. Tali had never been part of the plan, he had been very shocked when Ziva had told him, but he had been glad, he had always known Ziva was the one he wanted to start a family with. Keeping it secret had been the hardest part, he so wanted to tell everyone that he was married and that his wife (!) was pregnant, they had worn their wedding rings on chains around their necks until the secret had come out.

That wasn't to say that he hadn't been terrified of being a father, he had lain awake for many nights panicking that her would be a bad father and let his child down in some, way. But the fear and panic had disappeared the first time he had held his baby girl in his arms; the fear had been replaced by excitement and love. And Tali had survived 12 years so he must be doing something right he thought to himself as he bent down to take a picture of some blood splatter.

Once they were done and they had packed up the body and the evidence they drove back where armed with the boxes of evidence, Tony and Ziva went down to Abby's lab, as the elevator doors opened, they could her singing, both of them frowned, and slipped cautiously into the lab. Tali and Abby were sitting on stools in front of the monitor, singing the words to the elements song, laughing as they struggled to keep up and when it finished they both collapsed laughing so hard they could hardly breathe. Tali had barely got her breath back when her dad snuck up behind her and tickled her in the side causing her to squeal, and burst out laughing again, giggling 'dad stop'. 'Tony let her breathe' Ziva said placing her box of evidence on the table, Tony stopped tickling her but kept hold of her, she hugged him back breathing hard, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

After thanking Abby, the family went back to the bullpen; Gibbs was sitting at his desk, frowning at his computer when Tali bounced over, 'hi' he said brightly 'hello little DiNozzo' Gibbs replied his face softening at the sight of his goddaughter. 'Hey McGoo' she called out cheekily 'that's my girl' Tony said giving her a high five as he passed, McGee just rolled his eyes well uses to Tali and Tony's antics.

An hour later Gibbs stood up looking at his team, Ziva was typing away working hard, as was McGee. Tony was working too, but not as hard which was not unusual. Tali was watching him work, draped over the back of his chair. 'DiNozzos McGee' he called out, everyone looked at him and all answered 'yes boss', even Tali. 'Go home' he said with a smile as he walked past ruffling Tali's hair as he did so. 'Night' they all called as they left.

Little did Gibbs know that, he had seen Tali for the last time before she was taken.

When they had arrived home, and taken the elevator up to their floor and let themselves in, they ordered food and Tali and Tony began to watch a movie that Ziva couldn't remember the name of, they were giggling and laughing the whole time though, Tali curled up next to her father. They didn't stay up too late, they went to bed earlier than usual, and it was Ziva's turn to curl up next to Tony, snuggling into his chest, where she fell asleep, completely and undeniably happy

**Hope you like it, the kidnapping will happen in the next chapter.**

**Thanks to all those who have reviewed. Please let me know what you think of this chapter.**

**If anyone wants a specific story, check out my profile and see if I know the show, or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give it a go.**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	4. Chapter 4 A Family Divided

**Thanks to all those who reviewed, still unsure about who is going to take Tali, though probably not Eli. But if people do want Eli to take her then I was thinking of a sequel, where he has now heard about her and stuff. Let me know what you think**

Chapter 4 -

It was a Saturday and because of the new case Tali would have to come to work with them, not that she minded, she loved the office. On the way there, they had to stop to buy more gas and they all went into the shop to buy something to eat, Tony was filling up the car and Ziva was paying when the attack came.

Tali was wondering round the small shop, her headphones in, singing softly, she was only in the next isle across, Ziva could see the top of her dark head, moving slowly amongst the shelves, she heard a bell ring indicating someone entering the shop, she finished paying and turned around, the tension in the room made her realise something was wrong and she looked up assessing the situation.

Outside Tony was still filling up the car, and there was only one other car in the gas station, a big black SUV, there was a man filling its tank. The bell had rung signalling the arrival of 4 big bulky men who were wondering around the store in a similar way to Tali, she watched them uncertainly as she moved towards her daughter and then began to move towards to move towards the door one hand resting protectively on her daughter's shoulder, they were almost out of the door, when out of the corner of her eye she saw all of the men make similar movements.

She reacted faster than she had every reacted in her life 'Tali' she screamed and threw herself at her daughter who spun round a look of confusion on her face. She slammed into Tali hard and they both fell to the ground, at the same moment bullets flew over their head, where they been standing mere seconds ago.

Tony was just finishing when he heard gunshots. On of the windows on the store smashed. Instinctively he ducked before grabbing his phone and pressing speed dial 3. 'yeah DiNozzo where are you' 'boss' he shouted 'we are at the gas station at' he gave the address 'there has been shots fired, I don't know why' 'DiNozzo stay calm' Gibbs began but Tony cut him off 'I cant stay calm Ziva and Tali are in the store where the shots were fired from' there was silence on the other end and then 'we are coming now DiNozzo, don't do anything stupid' 'hell with that' Tony muttered before hanging up and drawing his gun. More shots came from inside as he crept forward, another window smashed causing him to duck once again. He ran to the door and stood to one side; it was strange not having Ziva on the other side of the door, and not busting it down before confronting the danger together. He took a deep breath before bursting into the store.

Tali had barely hit the floor before she was being pulled sideways by her mother; she was pushed behind some shelves by her mother who followed grabbing hold of her and pulling her close, 'Tali are you ok' she gasped, her gun was in her hand, loaded. Tali nodded pressing herself closer to her mother 'who are they? What do they want?'

Ziva looked at her daughter, she was 12 years old and however strong and in control she was, she was not ready for this, she had been taught how to defend herself, but as always when it actually happened, it was not as she had expected, it was scary. They heard voices coming closer and they wriggled backwards towards the door, there was a bang and Ziva pushed Tali behind her before firing her own weapon, one man fell. Dead. Tali stared in shock, she had seen dead bodies before but she had never seen someone die right in front of her before. There was the sound of footsteps and then a shout of 'I see then' somewhere to her left 'run' she screamed to her daughter and they both scrambled up sprinting towards the door.

Ziva saw something hurting towards her and screamed out to Tali to keep running, and she fell under the weight of the attacker, the first thing she did was knee him hard in his privates and trying to push him off her, but he was too big, too strong. She was overpowered as another came assisting the first.

Tali heard her mother scream at her to keep running and although she wanted nothing more than to stop and run back to her, she did, the door was right in front of her and she was almost out when a man stepped out in front of her, a gun in his hand. Tali skidded to a stop, scrambling the other way, when two more emerged one of them holding her mother. They were all pointing guns at her. She looked at her mother, she was fighting but the other men were bigger and stronger than her. They formed a circle around her pressing in while she whirled round and round looking for an escape, when none appeared she backed against a wall cowering away. Ziva could see the fear in her eyes, and it broke her heart.

'take her' the man holding Ziva said and the other two men surged forward towards Tali grabbing her, she ducked down yanking them down before surging sideways into one and then to the other side, both men gasped and one of then cursing her, raised an arm and hit her so hard she fell to the ground, blood trickling down her cheek. She was being pulled upright again to scared, confused and dazed to fight now, when the door burst open and Tony ran in.

As he burst through the doorway Tony assessed the situation in an instant, and he was horrified by the scene in front of him. The store was completely wrecked, products lay all over the floor smashed and broken. And amongst the mess was a group of people. Ziva was struggling in the grip of the largest man who held her by the throat ignoring her struggles. It shocked him that Ziva had been overpowered, she was usually so strong, he had seen her take down a man on steroids only earning herself a bruised cheek. He knew what it was, she was afraid to fight with Tali in the room where the little girl could get hurt. She was a risk taker but she would never risk her own child's life. Tali herself was half hanging, half standing in the grip of the other two men, there was blood on her cheek trickling from a cut on her temple. She was ghostly pale and trembling. He pointed his weapon at the two holding Tali shouting 'let her go now or I shoot' one of them laughed 'oh no you won't Agent DiNozzo, not when its your little girl's life at risk' he pulled Tali more in front of him so her body was blocking any clear shot he had at him, he then pressed his gun to her temple causing her eyes to widen even more. Tony finger tensed on the trigger, but he knew the man was right; he couldn't shoot, not with Tali there in the way. There was a curse from behind and suddenly Ziva was beside him, the other man had obviously been distracted and Ziva had taken the opportunity to free herself, she grabbed her weapon off of the floor and joined Tony pointing her gun at the attackers.

The men began to move and Tony and Ziva circled them like sharks, getting out of their way as they jammed the gun harder against Tali's temple. They followed them outside as they moved towards the SUV. Ziva was trembling, she could take the shot, she had taken similar shots more times than she could remember, but this was different, usually she was confident that she wouldn't miss, but now, she was panicking, if she did miss, she would kill her own daughter. She couldn't risk that.

The boot to the SUV was open now, and they were trying to push Tali inside but she was not cooperating with them, one if them hit her again throwing her to the floor, where her head smacked hard against the concrete, she didn't move, her eyelids continued to flutter dazed. Desperately Ziva called out 'what do you want with her?' the leader smiled 'we are just the people assigned to take her, we get paid to take her, what will happen to her afterwards is none of our concern' Tony shouted 'so you don't care if you send an innocent little girl to her death' the leader smiled 'nope that doesn't bother us at all, the only thing that does bother us is the nice big fat cheek coming our way as soon as we deliver this little darling to our employer'.

Ziva looked at her daughter; her wrists were being bound with flexi cuffs so tight that even in her dazed state she winced. The men finished binding her and lifted her up and placed her into the boot. 'no' Ziva screamed 'please no' but the men ignored her until with a screech of tyres Gibbs' car came skidding into the lot followed by more police cars, then a gin battle ensued, they fired first and Ziva but Tony lunged at her, throwing her out of the way the same way she had done to Tali. She felt pain across her arm though but that didn't stop her from fireing her gun at the man standing furthest away from her daughter, the kidnappers seemed to realise they were outnumbered, as they all turned and leapt into the car, the last man who had remained outside was obviously the getaway car driver, as a second later the car was spinning away, two police cars took off after it, tyres screeching. 'TALI' Ziva screamed her daughters name, running forward, it was Gibbs that caught hold of her, pulling her into his arms and stopping her from running after the car 'Ziver' he said quietly and they could all hear the pain in his voice 'its too late, they got her, there is nothing you can do now'

**Hope you like it, took me ages, that is like my 5****th**** draft, still need an idea of who took her and why, if you have a suggestion please let me know, I think it wont be Eli this time but if you want me to write another book where he does take her, maybe set after this one also let me know.**

**Please review, reviews make me happy and the more I get the faster I will update.**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	5. Chapter 5 Trace

**Hi thanks to all those who reviewed. Hope you like this**

Chapter 5 –

'_its too late, they got her, there is nothing you can do now'_

Ziva whirled round to face Gibbs, 'what do you mean by that' she demanded 'of course we can do something, we can go after them and chase them get her back'

Gibbs looked at her calmly, he looked at Tony then who had fallen against his car, he wasn't saying anything for the first time in a while, he wasn't DiNozzo, he was an empty shell of his former self, since he had had a family he had changed and now his little girl had been pulled away from him, he was nothing, a family man couldn't be a family man without a family. He was staring at the ground and suddenly he dropped to one knee and picked something up off the floor. 'What have you got DiNozzo' Gibbs asked Tony didn't reply, Ziva walked over to him and he handed her what he had picked up.

Gibbs walked over and peered over Ziva's shoulder, lying in the palm of her hand was a necklace identical to the one round Ziva's neck, a beautiful gold star of David, they had given that to Tali when she was 4 and she was rarely seen without it on. Ziva seemed to sag at the sight of her daughter's precious necklace; she leaned against Tony for support, tears beginning to trickle down her face. Tony wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Gibbs watched the parents try to keep it together, but they were struggling, that was when he noticed a dark stain on Ziva's arm rapidly getting bigger and bigger. 'Tony' he said 'take her to the hospital' Ziva tried to argue but Tony cupped her face in his hands 'you can not help Tali if you are badly wounded Zee' he whispered and began to walk her to the car 'DiNozzo's' Gibbs called after them, they both turned, he looked at them with his clear blue eyes 'we will find her' he said softly 'we will never give up I promise you' Ziva nodded at him and then Tony was driving her away, leaving him to find his goddaughter.

He felt guilty, if he had only arrived sooner he might not be in this situation, he might just me comforting his goddaughter and telling her that she would be fine, he sent McGee off to collect any witness statements before entering the trashed shop, he soon sound out roughly what happened from the evidence, Ziva had dropped the bag of shopping and knocked Tali out of the way of some bullets hitting various walls and the window, which had smashed, then judging by the marks on the floor Ziva and Tali had crawled behind some shelves where Ziva had shot one of the assailants dead. He looked at the dead man for a while wondering what would possess any man to take a little girl away from her mother. To try and kill her mother in front of her, in a way he was glad it was Tali, she was stronger than most kids, if any child would get through this then it was definitely her.

And when they had her back he was going to kill the SOB who had taken her, he swore that he would. He couldn't loose Tali it would be like loosing Kelly all over again.

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

Tali lay in the boot of the car wrists bound a hood over her head, they thought she was still out cold, but she was almost completely conscious, she could hear them talking, well shouting actually, the leader was shouting at his men.

'This does not look good for our record, you were meant to grab the kid while her mother was distracted, and then while you put her in the boot we would keep the parents away, you couldn't do that, it was simple, but no you had to let the kid get passed you and to her mother, then you had to let Ralf go and get himself killed'

The man he was talking to answered back defensively 'hey Ralf was being arrogant, like he always is, I tried to warn him but as usual he didn't listen, we got the kid ok, we will deliver her, get our money and scram, the boss could have told us the parents were NCIS agents and would be armed'

'At least' the first man said 'with Ralf gone we will have more money between us' 'yeah' the others agreed. 'Is she still out of it' the leader asked. Tali relaxed her body as best she could, slowing her breathing right down 'yep' one of them said and they turned on the radio.

Tali began to try and assess her situation; her mother had given her pointers and rules about what to do if you were in a situation like this. She guesses her mother had got the idea of the rules from Gibbs as she knew that her daughter had known all the rules by the age of 7. Rule 3 was if they think you are unconscious keep it that way for as long as possible she had shown her daughter how to relax and slow her breathing, and Tali was glad she had paid attention. She was lying on her side wrists bound tightly in front of her, she pulled carefully at the flexi cuffs testing them, but they were bound tightly. She couldn't feel much around her, so she guessed that the boot must be empty, slowly she moved her hands down to her pocket where there was something hard, her phone, 'brilliant' she thought slowly she pulled it out and from memory tried to call her uncle.

McGee was sitting at his desk, Gibbs was at his too, Tony and Ziva were still at the hospital, suddenly Gibbs' phone rang, he glanced at the number and then almost threw the phone open 'Tali' he gasped 'where are you sweetheart' McGee instantly began to trace the call whilst calling Tony who answered curtly 'what McGee' 'Tony Tali called Gibbs somehow im tracing the call now'

'we are in the car probie, tell us where she is' Gibbs looked at McGee 'she isn't saying anything' he said, 'she was only able to dial' he put it on speaker so McGee could hear though there wasn't much to be heard, there was some music playing but who the band was couldn't be made out 'McGee' Tony shouted down the phone 'where the hell is she' suddenly the signal began to flash, 'she is out of signal' McGee cried 'hang on she has stopped'

They both looked at Gibbs' phone s the music stopped and then there was the sound of the boot opening then a cry of 'hey what the, she has a phone you moron', and then with a crackle, the line went dead, McGee swore as his trace ended uncompleted. Gibbs threw down his coffee. 'Dam it' he shouted McGee told Tony the news and got a similar reaction from him. Thins were just not going well for the team today, and now they had no idea where Tali was, but her call had helped them narrow down where she was, the trace had not been completed but they had got the vague area where she was. The question was now though, would they be able to find her with that.

**As usual hope you liked it, still need an idea about who took her so i am 100%open to any and all suggestions**

**Please let me know id=f you have an idea**

**Also please review, I will update sooner if I have more reviews**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	6. Chapter 6 Her Haunting Past

**Thanks for all the reviews, I love hearing what you think about this story.**

Chapter 6 –

Tali fought as they dragged her out of the car, they had smashed her phone and beat her, now her back felt like it was on fire and it hurt to breathe, she fell as they pulled her from the car, she remained down, there was a click.

'get up' a cold angry voice said and through the thin hood she cold see the cold shiny barrel of the gun, slowly she got to her feet and stood there, still proud and defiant. Suddenly the hood was removed and she blinked against the sudden glare of light, the men standing in front of her were all glaring at her and most of them had guns, 'who did you call' one of them demanded she looked at them coldly she was not going to let them see how scared she really was, her mom had always told her, 'don't let them see your fear, they will use it against you' she eyed the guns though 'maybe you should have checked before you smashed it' she responded, there was a crack and she fell to the floor again as the closest one back handed her.

'don't talk to us like that child or next time something comes in contact with your head it will be a bullet got that' Tali didn't respond but dragged herself to her feet 'who did you call' one of them shouted she looked him straight in the eye 'maybe you should have looked before you smashed it' she repeated 'because then you would have seen that I didn't manage to call anyone, I dropped it before I managed too' she remembered what her Uncle Gibbs had taught her about lying 'look them straight in the eye, don't fidget, don't move'. The leader chewed his lip 'fine' he snapped 'lets go' he said to his men before turning to Tali 'walk' he ordered 'don't try Anything'

Tali turned and followed them she could feel the cold muzzle of the gun pressed against her back, she knew they would shoot her if she did try anything, she had heard what they had said to her mother and to each other in the car, they were just the delivery boys, now she was going to meet the person who really wanted her. She walked carefully along trying not to let them see her checking out her surroundings. It looked like she was in near the water, maybe the docks; she doubted it, as they were to close to NCIS.

She felt the gun press into her back and she quickened her step. They were approaching a warehouse, two men came out 'what do you want' they called, the leader stopped and then grabbed Tali and threw her in front of them, holding her by the back of her shirt, the men in front looked at her them turned and beckoned them inside. Tali was pushed thrown and yanked forward. She didn't fight, instead she hung her head in a sort of gesture of submission, she went where she was told to go, and they thought she had given up but she was a player, like her parents. She wouldn't submit so easily.

They were in the warehouse, and they moved to a large, nicely furnished room, that was where she was grabbed roughly from behind and thrown to the ground, where she stayed on her knees, allowing her shoulders to shake.

At first nothing happened, it was as though everyone was waiting for something, then a voice spoke.

'Gentlemen, when I hired you did I tell you to beat this child up'

'No sir'

'Then why gentlemen is she bruised and beaten'

'We had no choice sir, she wouldn't come quietly, and it was either hit her, or loose her'

The other man laughed 'ah I would not expect a David to come quietly, especially not the daughter of Ziva David'

Using her matted hair as a cover Tali peaked up at this new threat when he had spoken she had guessed he was Israeli, and now she could she that she was right, his skin was the same colour as her mothers, and he held himself in the same manner as her mother did. He had dark hair with matching dark eyes that glittered evilly. He had faint stubble on his chin. He was dressed in an expensive looking suit, telling Tali he wasn't short of money.

'pay the bounty hunters' he ordered, he sat there while the men were obviously given their money and escorted out, then he said 'leave us' and with that his guards left. Tali saw him stand and watched as he walked round her as though eying her up. Then he walked over to a table and came back with some large scissors. Tali eyed them warily until he grabbed her wrists and cut the cuffs binding them, he them released her, and Tali rubbed her wrists still not looking up wondering how she should behave, he knew who she was, that made her wonder how he knew, her mother had not told anyone of her former life about her when she was pregnant, except her father who had called her a disgrace to the family so he wouldn't tell people.

'Look at me child' he said Tali didn't move, the fact that he was Israeli meant that he was probably Mossad or something. She gulped as he moved closer and then he grabbed the back of her head gripping her hair and yanked her head back, she was forced to stare into his fathomless black eyes, as they traced over her features.

'Boker tov Tateleh' he said (Good morning my darling)

'Boker tov' she replied (Good Morning)

'na׳eem m'od le׳hakeerxa (Its very nice to meet you)

'tod'a' she replied (thank you) 'mee ata?' (who are you)

He smiled 'all in good time my dear all in good time, you speak very good Hebrew'

Tali didn't respond, 'did your mother teach you' he asked 'you look a lot like her'

Tali looked at him 'what do you want from me' she asked he smiled at her 'in good time' he repeated before moving off to stare out the window, Tali looked around for something she could use as a weapon, but there was nothing in sight 'don't try anything tateleh' he called and she looked at the floor again trying to seem scared and frightened.

After a minute he turned to look at her and once again he circled her 'Talia Kaitlyn' he said 'a pretty name for a pretty face' he smiled at her but she just looked at him 'Talia meaning 'lamb' and Kaitlyn meaning 'pure'' again he smiled 'but that is not why you are named those two pretty names is it'

Tali stared at him, surely he didn't know why she was named 'Tali after your mothers dead sister and Kaitlyn after your fathers first dead partner' he grinned 'I sense a bit of a theme' Tali scrambled backwards 'please what do you want' she begged, 'hush my child hush' he said reassuringly, 'I want nothing from you' 'then why am I here' she cried 'you are here as bait my love'.

Tali frowned 'bait, for who' he smiled at her and she knew 'my mother' she said horror filling her up 'why' she asked it terror. He grinned 'your mother never told you of what she did in Mossad did she' Tali shook her head, she had been curious but when she had asked her mother would shake her head and say 'I did many things with Mossad Tali, many things that I regret and hope that you will never have to see of do in your lifetime'

He smiled 'figures' he said 'she tried to protect her daughter but ended up getting her even more involved' he shook his head and then gestured to a seat next to his, uncertainly Tali walked slowly over and sat down, her 'host' sat down in his much bigger throne like chair and began to speak:

'your mother was in the best in Mossad, she moved up the rankings faster than anybody else, not because she was the daughter of the director but because she threw herself into work and got the job done quickly and efficiently, she joined because her sister your namesake was killed in a roadside bombing, many say she joined so that she could get her revenge' he paused for a minute 'she was unstoppable, she was eager to do what ever she was asked and killed many people while she did. But throughout her time in Mossad she remained obsessed with finding her sisters killer, she adored her little sister and was distraught when she died, eventually her father told her that the bomb had been planted by a man by the name of Amir Dayan he was my boss, of course, your mother instantly leapt for joy at that information and began to plot her revenge. She got it my dear'

Tali looked at him, he made her mother sound like some kind of psycho killer, but he made it sound so believable. 'she killed my boss' he continued 'right in front of me and he died in my arms the last thing he said to me was 'don't let her get away with this' because you see if someone kills one of our own they must die a slow painful death, of course her father knew that and whisked her away to America where to everyone's surprise she remained, having fallen in love and gotten knocked up' he leered at her 'bet her daddy regrets sending her there now'

Tali swallowed 'so you are using me to get to my mum because she killed you boss' she quickly did the math 'over 20 years ago' he smiled at her 'sometime you have to be patient to get your revenge, your mother was and he wasn't just my boss' he looked at her long and hard 'he was my father'

Tali stared and he laughed 'you don't believe me do you' she shook her head 'you my dear are my ticket to get her, she is to strong for me to get any other way, but if it is you at risk I do believe she will not try anything' Tali stared she knew he was right, she had seen how her mother had frozen up at the gas station, her father had told her about her mothers amazing shots much to her mothers disapproval. Now she was frightened.

'no' she cried 'you cant she's my mom I wont let you' his face hardened 'don't try and stop me little girl, I can make things very uncomfortable for you' 'I don't care' Tali shouted 'do what ever you want to me but I wont help you get to my mom' he lunged at her 'you will whether you like it of not girlie' he snarled 'your mother wont let you get hurt so as long as I have you your mother will come' he shouted over his shoulder and his bodyguards came hurrying in 'take miss DiNozzo to her room please' he said 'there is no need to be gentle about it'

The two men grabbed Tali's arms and began to drag her away 'no' she screamed but they ignored her, they dragged her to a small damp dark room and threw her inside where she crumpled up and began to cry, but not for herself she cried for her mother, she was terrified she would never see her again.

It was terrifying the not knowing, she lay down and cried herself to sleep.

**Hope you like it, took me most of the day to find all the translations, does anyone know a good translation website, I could really do with one. Hope they are correct sorry if they are not.**

**Anyway please let me know what you think (or if you know a translator website which is good) I would love to hear what you think.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	7. Chapter 7 Painful Contact

**Thanks for all the reviews, I know the first part is the prologue but thought I would show this is where it fits in, haha **

**Well Enjoy Hopefully**

Chapter 7 –

Talia Kaitlyn lay on the bed listening to the world go by, it felt strange that while she was stuck in this hole with no way out the rest of the world continued on its way. This was just proof that although when you were little the world seemed to revolve around you as everyone, cooed and fussed over you, the world actually didn't revolve around you, it kept spinning, and people carried on moving, not knowing that one person might be in danger, on the brink, of death.

She rolled over, she had been in here for what felt like years, but she knew it couldn't have been more than a few days. Everywhere hurt from the beating that she had taken, though she supposed it could have been much worse, if her mother hadn't taught her how to fight. It hurt more than the beating to think of her mother and father. She hoped that they hadn't been hurt during her abduction, she hoped her Uncle Gibbs would be there to help them, if something happened to her, both of her parents were strong especially her mother, but everyone had always said that she had changed her parents, in a good way she had been assured, they said she had made them more normal.

She tried not to think about the incident that had torn her from her family. But every time she closed her eyes she saw, the whole thing replaying in slow motion in front of her as though taunting her.

She heard the sound of shouting and then the sound of a key in the lock; she sat up ignoring the pain that tried to pull her back down. She was her parents' daughter, and if she was going down then she was going down like a true DiNozzo. She was not going down without a fight.

The door opened and her kidnapper Dayan entered with his men behind him, Tali sat still, waiting.

'Shalom' Dayan said eyeing her

'Shalom' Tali replied quietly

'I am going to call your mother' he said walking over to the barred window, 'you will speak to her, prove to her that you are alive, and if need be persuade her to surrender herself for you' 'I'd rather die' Tali spat, she loved her mother, there was no way she was going to hurt her. 'fine' Dayan said 'I will make you prove to her that she should get you out whether you like it of not tateleh'

'Bevakasha' Tali whispered (Please)

He smiled 'Ani mitstaer meod' (sorry) he replied 'beg all you want tateleh, but I don't change my plans because some little child asks me to'

'why didn't you just have my bounty hunters take my mother' Tali asked, that made him grin 'because I wanted to make her feel the same pain I felt before she died' Tali stared at him, until he turned.

'Bo iti' he called over his shoulder (come with me)

When Tali didn't move his bodyguards dragged her up and dragged her after their boss, fought for a bit but after a while when she realised it was fruitless, she gave up. They took her back to the smartly furnished room but there were a few changes, a bank of computers had been set up, most of them had security cameras images on. Tali watched as Dayan signalled to some men sitting at the computers and then picked up a phone, he walked over to Tali, 'my men are finding you mother's number now' he offered the phone to her 'would you like to save them some time'. Tali glared at him and he raised his eyebrows 'alright then, have you got it' he snapped over his shoulder, one of men began to call out the numbers and with a sinking heart Tali realised it was the right number. Dayan smiled again at her and then pressed dial.

XOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs looked at his team, everyway they looked for Tali gave them dead ends, they were running out of options, it had been 3 days since Tali was taken and they hadn't heard anything from her kidnappers. Gibbs could tell Ziva was beginning to panic, she knew she was worried that she would never see her daughter again and he couldn't deny that it was worrying him too. Tony was trying to stay positive, for Ziva's sake but was failing now; he sat staring at his computer screen, as he had been for the past hour.

Ziva was staring at some photos of Tali on her desk. They were good photos of her, one of them was of the whole team and Tali taken last Thanksgiving at Ducky's house, they were all dressed up nicely and were smiling and laughing at the camera. Then there was one of Tali and Tony when Tali was little only about 6, she was on Tony's back having a piggy back ride and Ziva had just leapt forward and taken it. There was another of Ziva and Tali curled up on the sofa together. Gibbs saw a tear slide down her cheek, he knew how she felt, he had lost Kelly and was angry that she should have to go through what he had been through.

Just then Ziva's phone rang, making her jump; she picked it up and answered 'David' as she still did to avoid confusion.

'**I thought it was DiNozzo now Ziva'**

Ziva frowned _'who is this'? _She asked

'**Of course you wouldn't remember me Ziva, perhaps though you remember my father Amir Dayan'**

Ziva froze and then mimed for McGee to trace the call before saying _'Yes I do remember'_

'**Good we are getting somewhere, I must admit Ziva you have been very hard to track down especially after you moved to America'**

'_Sorry to cause you difficulty Mr…' _

'**Elead Dayan is my name Ziva'**

Everyone was looking at her confused but she ignored them for now.

'_What do you want' _she asked

'**I want you to come and have a talk with me'**

'_Sorry I am a bit busy at the moment'_

'**I know you are looking for your daughter'**

'_What do you know about my daughter?'_

'**Accept the video conference and I will explain everything Ziva'**

And with that he hung up. Ziva looked at the rest of her team; they all looked at her waiting for an explanation. Her computer beeped, signalling a incoming video conference, she accepted before throwing it up onto the big screen 'stay out of sight' she said as Gibbs moved to the centre of the room, he stopped and sat on McGee's desk, 'McGee trace it' she hissed as a figure appeared on the screen, he had the same face as his father and it boiled fresh rage up inside of Ziva.

'**Boker Tov' **he called

'_Shalom'_ Ziva replied quietly

'**I must say Ziva, you and your daughter do look very alike'**

'_How do you know about Tali'_

'**Well it took a lot of digging to find you but once I found you it wasn't hard to find out about your family too'**

'_What do you want' _Ziva called

There was a laugh **'your daughter asked me the same question'**

'_Tali, where is she' _Ziva cried

There was a manic laugh and then he beckoned to the side of the screen and then reached out of sight and pulled a small girl into view. Ziva stared at her daughter, she was fighting hard but he was to strong, she wriggled and kicked, but to no avail. Then she looked up and saw her mothers face on the screen.

'Mom' she cried

'Tateleh are you ok'

'I'm fine mom' but Ziva could tell she was lying, she was beaten and bruised, and scarily thin.

'_Let her go'_ Ziva cried

'**Now why would I do that, I would like you to do something for me before I do something for you now my dear Ziva'**

Ziva looked at her daughter hanging from her kidnappers hand, she continued to fight, Ziva glanced to either side, McGee was typing furiously obviously trying to break the conference links protective fire wall, but it didn't look like he was succeeding. Gibbs was glaring at the screen and Ziva was glad he was out of sight, if Elead saw that look he wouldn't want to talk to her like this anymore, even to her and Israeli Mossad's that look was scary.

And Tony, the look on his face broke her heart, he was glaring at the screen with anger in his eyes but pain written all over his face, pain at the sight of his baby girl, in the state she was in, bruised, beaten and struggling, they could both see the determination in Tali's eyes but they knew her so well, so they could see the fear on the 12 year olds face.

'_what do you want me to do' _she asked fearing what would happen next. Elead smiled **'for now my dear nothing except feel the same pain that I felt when you killed my father'**.

'Of course' Ziva thought before replying _'I think I felt that pain when he murdered my little sister'_

'**ah yes Tali, this ones namesake eh, well one of them, I notice a bit of a theme with the names, Death' **Elead laughed delightedly and shook Tali hard making her struggle more, and Ziva felt a chill of fear run through her, **'we will se each other soon Ziva, I promise you, and if you want you daughter to live then you will do as I say to the letter, but for now LeHitra'ot (good – bye)**

'_no' _Ziva cried desperately but stopped when Tali screamed 'don't do what he says mom, don't do it' **'shut up' **Elead roared and hit her hard sending her flying but she got back up again still screaming her warning to her mother, Elead suddenly grabbed what looked like a cattle prod and moved towards Tali who backed away **'I warned you what I would do if you spoke out of line little missy' **he thrust the cattle prod at her catching her in the side, Tali howled in pain crumpling to the floor 'Ani ohevet otakh Ima' Tali screamed (I love you mom) 'Ani ohevet otakh Aba' (I love you father).

Both of her parents had tears running down their faces now, as they watched Elead Dayan thrust the cattle prod again and again into their daughter, each time she screamed they felt their heart break even more. Suddenly Elead turned and smiled at the camera before making the same slashing motion they made and they lost contact.

Ziva crumpled into Tony's arms crying her broken heart out now. Tony cradled her whispering to her 'its ok Zee we'll get her back I promise you, we will get her back'

'its my fault' she sobbed 'she's gone and being tortured because of me its all my fault' 'no Zee it's not your fault' Tony whispered holding her tightly, 'don't worry we will get her back, I promise you Zee' But Gibbs could see that Tony didn't believe what he was saying for a second. He could see the fear for Tali's life in his eyes and he felt the same fear inside his heart too.

**Hope you like it, sorry it took me so long to update but, I was writing my other book (Castle – Her Secret Life No More) and I got so wrapped up in that story I couldn't stop writing it.**

**Well PLEASE let me know what you think, I promise I will try and update sooner if I get a lot of reviews, Promise.**

**Also if anyone wants a specific story, check out my profile and see if I know the show, or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give it a go.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	8. Chapter 8 Fighting Back

**WOW, amazing load of reviews, at first nothing and then refresh the page and WAM loads of reviews I was like S#*t ha-ha**

**Well glad everyone likes this story most people prefer my other story (Castle – Out To Get You)**

**Well hope you like this chapter **

Chapter 8 –

Tony took Ziva home he had ever seen her so defenceless, Tali had been slowly lowering her defensive walls but now they came tumbling down and all her carefully controlled emotions were let loose. She sat staring out of the window tears rolling silently down her cheeks, Tony didn't know what to say, he wanted to continue saying that everything was going to be all right and that they would find their baby girl soon, but he knew that if he didn't believe it, his crazy ninja chick wouldn't. He smiled as he thought of the nickname he had made for Ziva when they had first met, the first time they had slept together and when he had tried to stop her snoring she had rolled over and held a gun to his chin. He still remembered how shocked he had been when he felt the barrel of that gun up against his chin.

After Tali had been born he had started calling her little ninja chicklet or his Minnie Ninja Chic. Ziva had protested against those nicknames, but after a while he had heard her start to call her those as well, she had even come up with some of her own about how Tali was like him, like once she had come home to find them both of them sitting watching a movie in total awe of what they were watching - though it had been some kids movie – after that Tali had been the Junior Movie Nut.

It pained him to think of those past memories when now Tali was in danger if dying. They arrived home and he parked before turning off the ignition and just waiting. He looked at his beautiful wife so hurt so broken it pained him. He got out and went round and opened the door for Ziva and carefully helped her out. They rode the elevator to their floor in silence and let themselves in to their apartment, it was spookily quiet without Tali. Everywhere Tony looked he saw Tali at different ages. In the kitchen with Ziva covered in flour after whatever they had been baking had exploded covering them both. In the living room singing a song whilst dancing around to a movie on the TV. In their master bedroom Tali leaping up and down on the bed in time to music with Ziva both laughing loudly. In her room fast asleep, curled up in bed happily clutching her stuffed toy hippo (curtsy of Abby – named Bertie) while he and Ziva looked on feeling as though they were the luckiest people on the planet.

He looked at Ziva as she moved into the house and sat on the sofa curling up and staring into space. He set down their bags and moved to join her on the sofa, he settled next to her and then opened his arms so she could curl up in them, he lay himself down with Ziva lying next to him and eventually they both drifted off into a troubled sleep.

XOXOXOXO

Tali woke up back in her little cell, tears still streaming down her cheeks, Elead Dayan had continued to beat her long after he had hung up on her mother, now the pain in her chest was much larger though she was not sure if it was because of her beating or because of seeing how much she was hurting her family. Seeing the pain in her mother's eyes when she had been dragged into sight had torn a hole in her chest. She had seen that she was in the bullpen and she knew that that meant the rest of her family were watching too. She hated causing them pain.

She lay on the uncomfortable cot bed looking around, desperate of a way to get out, but the bars on the window were strong and the door was very solid. There was no escape from this little hell.

She heard footsteps in the hall and sat up not willing to show them in how much pain she was in. Dayan's two bodyguards entered and with emotionless faces grabbed her, she didn't resist, she just let them drag her along. She knew that they were going to call her mother again, to arrange a meeting; she doubted that she would live through this. But it didn't mean she wasn't going to try.

She suddenly repeated the trick she had used on the bounty hunters, she jerked down and then while they were stumbling not to fall over she lunged herself into one and with a grunt of surprise he released her, she then repeated the trick barrelling into the other one, he hung on for longer so she sunk her teeth into his wrist, he swore at her but his iron tight grip on her arm loosened enough for her to jerk free, duck around him and swing her leg up to hit him in the side of the face, he fell into the wall, and slid down it to dazed to move. The other one was up now and he ran at her, she put her head down and ran straight into his chest winded he once again stumbled back, she swung her leg up again catching him in the throat, he crumpled to the ground.

Tali stood there for a second panting, then she didn't waste any time, she turned and ran, scrambling along the corridors,, it wasn't long before an alarm sounded throughout the building and she knew she didn't have any time, so she ran for the office with the bank of computers.

Dayan luckily wasn't in there and there was only one tech sitting at the bank of computers, she knocked him out using a pipe she found and then began to type, she quickly managed to set up a link with NCIS, one without protective firewalls.

XOXOXOXO

Ziva and her team were waiting for the next ransom call, it wasn't due for another hour so they were all surprised when the conference appeared, they were in MTAC and after glancing at his boss who nodded McGee accepted the conference.

You can imagine everyone's surprise when Tali's face appeared on the screen. 'Tali' Ziva cried but she was interrupted 'mom there is no time, is Uncle McGee there' 'yeah I'm here Tali' McGee called 'quick, this link shouldn't have any firewalls you have to trace it' McGee stared at the little girls face 'what happened to the firewalls' he asked 'I hacked in and got rid of them hurry' Tali said desperately, they could hear an alarm ringing in the background and suddenly shouting, suddenly Tali ducked out of sight having lent forward and obviously turned of the monitors. Two men ran in and glanced around the room quickly before leaving, Tali leapt up again 'please hurry' she begged. 'Tali' Gibbs said 'do you think you can get out?' the little girl thought, 'I don't know maybe' 'well turn off the monitors and we will be coming soon, try and get out' the little girl nodded and then whispered 'le׳hitra׳ot axar kax' (see you soon)

'Tali' Ziva called 'Ani ohevet otakh Tateleh' (I love you darling). The little girl opened her mouth to respond, but there was a crash causing her to whirl round and run.

'come on Tony' Gibbs said 'Ziva you stay here in case the ransom call comes through, make him think we don't know about Tali if he tries to make you think they still have her, McGee as soon as you have completed that trace you sever the contact, if they do have her, we don't want them to find out that she has been in contact with us' and with that he ran out of the room, Tony on his heels.

XOXOXOXOXO

Tali ran, taking out another man on her way, she ducked down another corridor trying to remember the way she had been brought in, then suddenly to her relief she saw the door, she stumbled forwards, skidding to a stop to hide behind some creates as two more guards appeared, taking a position on either side of the door, their eyes scanning the corridor two large guns in their hands. Well she wasn't getting out that way. She looked around, how else was she going to get out, there was a vent high in the wall above her, air vents, but how would she get in without the two guards seeing her.

She carefully opened one of the creates, inside there were a lot of guns ropes, etc. she grabbed one of the guns and pulled out the bullets, then she lobbed them high in the air, they landed with loud clinking sounds and the guards instantly went to investigate, after a moments hesitation she grabbed some rope and climbed on top of the creates and pushed the air vent open and scrambled in.

It was dark in the vent and her breathing sounded even faster and louder than it was, slowly she began to pull herself along sliding rather than crawling to avoid making sound and alerting them to her presence in the vent, she crawled along knowing that eventually she would be able to find her way to the outside, she wriggled over the conference room with the computers, she could see Dayan talking and she did not like what she was hearing…

**Haha I know a cliff hanger, sorry I would love a lot of reviews again and promise that I will try and out another chapter on tomorrow if I do get loads but I have to update my other story too. School is starting back up soon too so it migh be harder to update.**

**Well hope you liked it **

**Please review**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	9. Chapter 9 Plot and Pain

**Wow loving all the reviews, thanks everyone, please keep them all coming.**

**Hope you like thing chapter.**

Chapter 9 –

Dayan was talking to another Israeli man dressed just as smartly as he was, they were talking about a ship, a bomb and NCIS 'it must be destroyed' Dayan said 'of course' the other man said 'but you can't do it you have a price on your head so high you cant even leave this place, why did you take this child in the first place?'

Dayan scowled 'she is going to help me get some 20 year old revenge' his friend shook his head 'seriously it is not healthy to carry grudges for so long' 'well soon I will have fulfilled my fathers dying wish and I will not have to carry the grudge any longer because she will finally be dead'

His companion frowned 'what does this girl have to do with Ziva David?' he asked 'everything' Dayan responded 'she is her daughter' his friend shook his head again 'wow you really are determined to get her aren't you if you kidnap her daughter' Dayan just smiled.

At that moment the guards all came running in 'well' Dayan snapped 'where is she what is that noise for' the guards all looked at each other uncomfortably 'um well she escaped' one of them mumbled 'she proper attacked us and just ran, we put guards on the doors and she shouldn't have been able to make it out in time but she cant be found in the building sir' Dayan stared at them and Tali could almost see him swelling up with rage

Dayan began to scream at his staff, 'how could you be so stupid, she is the daughter of Ziva David of course she wasn't just going to come quietly' the guard didn't say anything, they just hung their heads in shame 'you had better bring her back or else it will be you heads' he shouted they all nodded and then turned and left.

Dayan sighed and sat in his chair rubbing his temples growling a stream of abuse at Tali who shifted nervously, she hoped her Uncle Gibbs would get here soon, she didn't know what to do, they would be combing the outside of this place by now with guns by now, she wasn't going to be able to just drop out of the vents and run, they would gun her down.

Dayan companion moved forward, 'maybe there is a way we can get your revenge and complete our mission together Elead' Dayan stared at him, 'what do you have in mind' he asked and they bent their heads together and began to plot. Tali leaned away from the hole her hand over her mouth to muffle her loud and fast breathing, they were going to blow up a marine boat and try and kill her mother at the same time, and if her mother was on the ship then her whole family would be on the ship, trying to find the bomb, they would all be killed.

She had to get out of here and warn everyone, but she didn't have much evidence either, just two men plotting, she didn't know when or what ship they were targeting. She just had them planning.

And she had no idea who this other man was so that wouldn't be much help either.

She let out a tiny groan and then began to slide forward carefully round the vent and on looking desperately round for the great outdoors, she passed over many more vents and in each one she saw the guars desperately turning the room upside down in search of her. She eventually realised how big and confusing this network of vents was, eventually she curled up crying softly and waited for a miracle

XOXOXOXO

Gibbs drove at a speed to rival Ziva's but for once Tony didn't care, he wanted him to go even faster, his daughter was in danger and he wanted to get to her so he could fulfil his duty as a father and protect her, Gibbs pulled out his phone and told him to call McGee, Tony did so putting it on speaker, 'yeah boss' the agent called 'Probie it's me where are we going' 'hey Tony just completed the scan, tracking your location, oh you need to go west at the next turning, Gibbs wrenched the steering wheel round sending the car spinning round gown the turning that they had already been upon when McGee told them, ignoring the blaring of horns Gibbs shouted 'where now McGee' 'I'm sending the directions to you phone boss' 'got them' Tony shouted'

Suddenly from the other end of the phone Ziva cried 'they are asking for the conference Gibbs' 'accept it and let us hear what they want to say now, maybe if we are lucky we will catch them in the act' there was a brief silence on the other end and then some Hebrew to which Ziva replied also in Hebrew. Then they switched to English **'well Ziva are you going to come to a meeting' **_'I want to see my daughter' _Ziva demanded **'no can do my dear' **_'why not' _Ziva asked **'because my dear your daughter was killed after she tried to escape, my men gunned her down when they could not catch her' ** Tony felt as though his whole world had just been crushed, no it couldn't be possible, Tali couldn't be dead, 'no she wasn't dead she cant be' he thought wildly on the other end of the phone he heard Ziva cry out 'no' and desperately whished he was there with her to comfort her and make sure that nothing would happen to her. He glanced sideways at Gibbs and saw that his boss looked as crushed and broken as he felt, he realised that it must be like losing Kelly again for him, and he now understood his bosses pain.

Just then Dayan began to speak again **'very well if you will not agree to a meeting I will have to just tell you what I have done and not tell you how to stop it' **Ziva sounded like she was crying but she carried on with the meeting '_what have you done'_ **'on the ship the Defender, I have planted a bomb big enough to destroy it and the rest of the ships surrounding it' **everyone gasped **'it is going to blow in 5 hours so I suggest you forget about your daughter and get your sorry little butts down to the docks and find that bomb, happy hunting'**

Tony and Gibbs heard the sound of the connection being lost and Gibbs leapt into action 'Ziva McGee you get down to the docks now, if that bomb it as big as he says it is a lot of people are going to die if we don't stop that bomb, Ziva I am so sorry about Tali, and I know we are all going to miss her, but right now we have to stop more innocent people dying' there was silence and then Ziva responded 'yes Gibbs, just promise me if he is still there don't kill him, I want to hurt him the same way I hurt his father' Gibbs answered carefully 'we will bring him into interrogation Ziver I promise'. And with that Ziva hung up.

XOXOXOXOXO

Tali had been hiding above the conference room when she had heard Dayan tell her mother that she was dead, and she wanted nothing more that to jump out and she tell her mother that she was alive, she could see how her mother crumpled after she had heard that, she felt so angry at Dayan, she watched him hang up and then he laughed, 'well I think she believed me' his companion laughed too 'you are certain that you hid it well so they wont find it' 'relax' Dayan said 'no one is going to look in an oil drum filled with oil for a bomb, it is only a small bomb but with that much fuel around it, it will certainly be big' 'and it is rigged to explode in 4 hours not 5 so they will all still be on the ship right'

Tali reeled away ok now she really had to get out of here, she noticed that they were packing up, they were leaving, running, if her Uncle Gibbs was coming he had better arrive soon.

They left 10 minutes later and Tali climbed out of the vents and ran, she had to get to Norfolk and fast, to warn her family that unless they all abandoned ship, they were all going to die.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs' car came screeching to a stop in front of the warehouse where McGee said Tali had been held, they both leapt out of the car and ran to the building bursting down the door and splitting up, checking every room 'clear' Gibbs called but didn't hear Tony respond he found his agent standing in the doorway to a secure looking room with bars on the window and a tiny hard looking bed, Tony moved into the room and picked something up off of the bed, Tali's favourite jumper, stained in blood, Gibbs clapped him on the shoulder, 'she wouldn't want you to pine for her Tony, she would want you to go save lives'.

Tony nodded and they left after checking the rest of the rooms.

**Hope you like it, next time, will they be able to find/stop the bomb, will Tali ever see her family again.**

**PLEASE let me know what you think, I will update as quickly as it is humanly possible if I get a lot of reviews, but I do want to do the next chapter just right**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	10. Chapter 10 Abandon Ship

**Well I have been planning this chapter basically since I started the book so sorry if it takes a while but I want to do this one just right. Hope you like it, after I have finished it I get enough reviews and enough people want me too I might do a sequel, will write about it at the end.**

Chapter 10 –

Tony and Gibbs arrived at the docks in record time, McGee and Ziva were busy evacuating the docks which looked like it was proving to be rather difficult, that was when Gibbs noticed the sign saying it was open day. 'that explains how they got in' Tony said quietly, Gibbs had never known him to be so quiet, in the car he would chat for hours about nothing unless you gave him a head slap, but Tali's death had really shaken him up. He got out of the car the moment it was parked and went over to Ziva, who as soon as she saw him ran over and fell into his arms, he could see the tears streaming down their cheeks and he felt his heart break for them.

Ziva buried her face into Tony's shoulder and hugged him letting her emotions go, she was distraught, she wanted her little girl back again, her brave cheeky little ninja. She couldn't imagine life from now on without the junior movie nut, she felt responsible for her daughters death and she voiced this guilt, she felt Tony cup her face in his hands again 'Zee how many times it is not your fault,' 'it was not my fault when she was missing but it is my fault now she is she is dead Tony' 'hey' he said firmly 'the only ones to blame for this is Dayan and whoever shot her and we will get them for this Zee I promise you but right now I think we should stop everyone here dying so that once we have done this we can find her killer' she nodded and they both turned to their boss who was watching them giving them a minute with McGee by his side 'ready' he asked softly when they nodded he handed them their bullet proof vests and they ran aboard the ship.

It was eerily quiet on board the usually always noisy always busy ship they had a little over and 2 hours and a half, Gibbs was disappointed about how little time they had but their first priority was to get the people to safety and the terrorist or whoever set the bomb had chosen the perfect day to prevent them from finding the bomb, they set off carefully examining every room thoroughly but quickly, they were all painfully aware of the lack of time. They completed their search of the first two decks and were on the third when Gibbs realized that they didn't have enough man power to search the whole ship in an hour and a half, 'Tony, Ziva you go that way he said directing them to the middle of the ship, don't go down to the next level without us' the two pining parents nodded and moved off in the direction he had indicated whilst he and McGee went down the left side, the bomb squad were doing the left hand side of the ship.

All was silent as Tony crept along after Ziva, he was struggling to focus, he wanted to just sit and pine for his little girl, but he knew that if they didn't find the bomb thousands would suffer, they both swung their guns up as they entered a cabin, checking it was clear, then they began to search it, Ziva checked all the cupboards and shelves whilst Tony stripped the beds, checked the mattresses and under the beds. They were quick and efficient desperate for it to be over so they could go home and morn.

'Found anything yet, Tony Ziva' Gibbs asked through their ear wigs 'nothing yet boos' Tony replied noticing that Gibbs called them both by their first names 'we are nearly done' Ziva said quietly. They met back up and descended to the next level, they were just about to split up when they heard a clatter and running footsteps heading straight towards them, they all froze and glanced at Gibbs who raised his weapon, they copied him and stood waiting. None of them were expecting who came barrelling round the corner, froze and then ran at Ziva.

A little girl with dark brown hair and fiery hazel eyes, she was dressed in ragged clothing and she was as thin as a rake, she was covered in bruises and burns. She hit Ziva crying out 'Mom'

Ziva staggered backwards as the girl hit her, the girl was hugging her tightly, she pulled the girl away and bent to look at her and gasped 'Tali' she cried 'your alive' then she was pulling the girl into a hug and they were both crying hugging each other, then Tony was there pulling them both into his arms before Tali released her mother and turned to her father who cupped her face in his hands like he did to her mother and gazed at her, the two pairs of hazel eyes met and he couldn't hold back a sob as he too pulled her into his arms pressing his lips to the top of her head whispering 'oh Tali thank God'

He released her and looked at her 'we thought you had been killed' he exclaimed 'I know' she said miserably 'I couldn't get out they put guards on the door and they were turning every room inside out so I climbed in the air vents and I heard them tell you I was dead mom' then she gasped 'god I forgot' she then turned 'Uncle Gibbs' she began but was cut of as he scooped her up into his arms and hugged her, she hugged him back there were tears running down everyone's cheeks now. Finally Tali gasped 'we have to get off this ship now' 'no you have to get off this ship' Tony said grabbing her hand 'we have to find the bomb' 'but you don't understand there is no time'

'Tali' Gibbs said he looked at his watch 'we still have an hour and 20 minutes, Tony Ziva you get her off this ship and to a hospital, we will call for some bomb squad to come help us' 'no' Tali interrupted 'you don't have an hour and 20 minutes, you have 20 minutes' everyone stared at her 'what' McGee said 'they didn't want you to get off this ship alive any of you, so they set it to detonate an hour before they told you' They all stared at her then Gibbs was shouting at the back up team telling them to abandon the search there was no time if they had no idea where it was 'wait' Tali cried 'I might know where it is' everyone looked at her 'and you got all this from hiding in the air vents' McGee said. Tali nodded 'I don't know exactly where it is but I do know that it in an oil drum that is full, they are very small but will all the oil' she didn't need to finish. 'Ziva, Tony take Tali and get out of here, me and McGee will go try disable the bomb' 'you cant disable it' Tali said 'but I saw the plans on the table and there is a switch hidden, I know where it is I can turn it off' 'NO' everyone said loudly, but Tali ducked under them all and ran off towards the engine room, cursing her they all followed.

Tali ducked into the engine room, there were a lot of oil drums, she yanked the lid of the first one and began to feel around in it using a long stick she picked up, the team all arrived and Tony grabbed Tali 'come on' he said 'no' she cried 'if I don't get the switch everyone will die' 'no we will all be clear if we leave now' Tony said 'we are not going to loose you again Tali' she struggled but he kept a firm hold of her until McGee said 'guys she's right' they all looked over to see him carefully fish a small bomb out of the barrel he was looking in, he carefully lay it on the floor and began to examine it 'I cant see a switch Tali' he said desperately, Tali pulled herself free of her father and knelt next to McGee and carefully examined it, Ziva looked at the timer it read 2 minutes 40 seconds.

'Got it' Tali said pointing through a mass of wires where there was a tiny almost invisible switch; you wouldn't have seen it unless you knew it was there. Slowly Tali pushed her finger into the tiny hole and began to move it towards the switch, nobody moved until Tali's finger twitched upwards and after a moment the little screen went black. Everyone sighed in relief except Tali who mumbled 'that was easy' and frowned then she got up and looked in the other barrels, 'I guess we are all very lucky Tali is such a little escape artist' McGee said looking at the little girl who had frozen where she was, Gibbs walked over to see what she was looking at and for a brief second he too froze.

There was a second bomb in this oil drum and its timer was counting down it read 1 minute 20 seconds, and it was different, there was no time. He grabbed Tali's hand and yanked her away screaming 'everyone OUT now' nobody hesitated hearing that voice. They practically fell up the stairs running, Gibbs dragging Tali after him, they reached the top deck just as the bomb squad finished disembarking the huge boat, Gibbs released Tali and turned to close the door, then he was chasing after them, they were all running desperately trying to put as much distance between them and the ship when the bomb went off.

At first there was nothing, just a loud bang and then a wave of heat hit them all throwing them into the air, everything was so bright, they hit the floor and covered their heads to protect themselves from the falling debris then everything went silent.

Tony waited a minute before slowly raising his head and looking round he couldn't hear anything but he knew that would pass, desperately he looked round for his team, wife and daughter. McGee was coughing to one side of him rubbing his head. He looked to the other side and saw Ziva lying surrounded by bits of twisted metal and wood, she was bleeding from a wound on her head and she wasn't moving. Tony's hearing was coming back, he could hear himself screaming Ziva's name as he crawled towards her pushing bits of debris away and off of her, she shook her 'c'mon Zee wake up' he pleaded and sighed in relief as she began to stir, opening her eyes and looking round in confusion he helped her sit up before hugging her tightly 'Tali' she rasped and pulled herself up, carefully he assisted her and the staggered off in search of Gibbs and Tali.

They found Gibbs sitting up already, they rushed over to him 'are you ok boss' Tony asked concerned 'I'm fine where's Tali' he replied desperately 'she was in front on me when the bomb went off', McGee came over from one side 'she's not over there' he shouted and so they all began to search calling her name, their cries becoming more desperate as they continued not to find her, suddenly there was a second smaller explosion from one of the burning ships, it wasn't as big but it still blew them backwards of their feet covering the dock with fresh debris, the part of the dock that they had not yet searched for the 12 year old girl.

'TALI' Ziva screamed in panic, she had already lost her daughter once today, she couldn't loose her again. They continued their hunt getting more and more desperate when they suddenly heard Gibbs shout 'I've found her quick come help', they all ran over to see Tali lying on her back her head to one side, a huge heavy metal beam lying over her pinning her to the ground, she wasn't moving. Tony and McGee ran over to Gibbs and the three of them positioned themselves to try and lift the heavy beam off the tiny child, Ziva crouched down so she could pull her carefully out when they had lifted it, she stroked her daughters head brushing hair out of her face, she saw her eyelids flutter, and slowly she opened them 'mom' she gasped 'hush tateleh lie still' Ziva whispered, Tali gasped 'ow hurts to breathe'

'One two three' all three men strained to lift the heavy beam and slowly they managed to, Ziva quickly pulled her child clear and they all let it drop with grunts before falling to the ground next to Tali, 'wow how light are you if you got blown this far away' Tony asked his daughter with a smile on his face, she grinned her cheeky grin back, 'come on' Gibbs sad looking at his team who was more like a family to him now 'lets get you all to the hospital' Tony carefully gathered Tali up into his arms, kissed her brow and carried her to the entrance to the docks, whey could hear sirens approaching. Tali snuggled into her father's chest and that was where she stayed for the whole ride to the hospital, she fell asleep. Tony cradled her close, now savouring every second he had with her, Ziva rested her head on his shoulders and he rested his head on hers, and the whole family dozed.

Gibbs watched them, they really were and odd family, an ex Mossad ninja mother, a cheeky, movie nut prank loving father, ad a cheeky combination of the two daughter who had saved all of their lives along with probably half of the bomb squad. He smiled they were odd, but in a way they wee a perfect family.

**Hi well hope you liked it. Took me ages, I really wanted Tali to be the one to save them, maybe in the next chapter they might discover not everything went to plan…**

**Right for my sequel I am thinking as some people did want Eli David, I might write a story that he has now heard about what Tali has done and how strong she is and how like her mother she is, he kidnaps her and forces her to become a child assassin, he drills all emotions out of her and she becomes a perfect weapon. It is up to Tony and Ziva to save her before it is too late. Let me know if you think I should write that, there will be more chapters to this probably**

**Well let me know**

**PLEASE REVIEW and I will try and write another chapter before I go back to school when the updates will be less frequent.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	11. Chapter 11 Reunited

**Thanks for all the reviews I will continue to try and update as often as possible, but it might not be so often, now that I am back at school and I have GCSE's approaching (GULP)**

**Well hope you like it, I just want to keep this story going for a while, will write about Tali's recovery like I have done for my other stories.**

Chapter 11 –

They arrived at the hospital quite quickly, Gibbs looked over, McGee had fallen asleep to and he couldn't help but smile at them all, he felt exhausted too but all the coffee helped keep him going, he nudged McGee causing him to start, then he leant over and shook Tony "wake up DiNozzo" he called, Tony jerked awake almost sending Tali to the floor "on you six boss" he shouted as he did every time Gibbs woke him up, Gibbs shook his head, Tali was yawning, he noticed that her breathing was more rasping then usual, "are you all right Tali" Ziva asked, she had been woken by Tony jerking awake too and she also noticed Tali's breathing difficulty, in reply Tali leant forward and let out a loud hacking cough, one of the paramedics looked at her concerned, "come on" he said "lets get you all checked out, you defiantly need some X-rays" he said to Tali.

They took Tali to have an X-ray, much to Ziva's annoyance she couldn't go with her, Gibbs had a feeling that she didn't want to let Tali out if her sight ever again, he didn't blame her, he felt the same way. Ziva sat on the hospital bed tapping her foot in annoyance, she was having the cut on her head seen too along with burns and other scrapes that needed cleaning, Tony and McGee were finished with quite quickly, they had been level with Ziva when the bomb had gone off but Ziva had turned in desperation to look for her child just as the bomb had gone off, Gibbs himself had been the furthest back and was more burned than the rest of them, along with a sprained wrist from being thrown in the air and then landing awkwardly.

A doctor entered just then, "Tali DiNozzo's family" he asked, they all leapt up much to his surprise, Tony told him that McGee was her uncle and Gibbs was her godfather and grandfather. The doctor shrugged, and Ziva instantly asked "how is she", he looked at her sadly, "well I have to say in my 10 years as a doctor I have never seen anything quite like what your daughter has been through" he eyed them all almost as if blaming them, and to save him from Ziva who looked like she might kill him for even thinking that she might hurt even a hair on her daughter's head, Gibbs pulled out his badge and explained that Tali had been kidnapped and then escaped only to come to them and save them all from being killed but had been blown up with them, the doctor nodded looking relieved and they saw him edge slightly away from Ziva.

"Well firstly there are the beatings all over her body; it looks like someone beat her mercilessly with their fists. Then there are the burns all over her back and chest" Gibbs explained what had happened when she had been tortured with the cattle prod and the doctor looked rather disgusted when he heard that "they are pretty bad, but should heal over time, though she might find it a bit hard to do hard exercise for a couple of months. Lastly there are the results of the explosion I now gather, she has burns across her back but she was far enough away from it when it exploded that they are not to serious, then it looks like something very heavy landed in her, it broke 3 ribs and we are extremely lucky they didn't puncture anything vital, we had taped them all up and she should be fine in a few days, we are going to keep her in tonight though just in case we missed something and to make sure she doesn't have a concussion of anything else serious"

The doctor looked at them as they stared at him in stunned silence, Tony couldn't believe how much his daughter had been through and was still in one piece finally he found his voice "can we see her" the doctor nodded "she's a bit doped up on painkillers nut she should be ok to see you" they all followed him down the hall to a small private room, looking through the window, Tony could see Tali lying curled hp with her back to the window, slowly he and Ziva entered with Gibbs and McGee behind them. Tali rolled over as they shut the door and she grinned as she say them, that smile was one Tony's favourite things about her, it just showed pure joy "hey chick" he said softly moving forward to hug her, he held her gently but firmly and she hugged him back in the same way, the drugs were obviously making her sleepy because her grip was loose around his neck.

He smiled at her and then stepped back so Ziva could hug her daughter, she pressed her lips against Tali's brow and whispered something in Hebrew to her, to which she responded quietly, they hugged before Ziva too stepped back and hugged his goddaughter, "you are one seriously brave kid" he said and she smiled back at him, "I don't think" she replied sleepily "that's my problem I'll probably be annoyed with myself in the morning when I can't move but I don't regret what I did and never will'' McGee stepped forward to say hi "I've been meaning to ask you" he said "how did you know how to hack into the computer and destroy the firewalls" she looked at him "I've practically lived at NCIS I have watched you hack into hundreds of things, I practised with dads email account" "hey" Tony said as everyone laughed.

They stayed until visiting time ended and only one parent was allowed to stay, Tony looked at Ziva "you stay" he said, "she needs a mom more than she needs a dad right now" Ziva smiled "she will always need her daddy Tony, don't ever forget that, a little girl always needs her daddy" Tony smiled and looked at Tali, she was barely awake now, and they left quietly after all saying their goodbyes, before he left Tony turned round and looked, Ziva was settling into the chair, but she had dragged it right next to the bed, she took Tali's hand to reassure the girl that she was there, the child had spent a week in a cold cell all by herself, she needed human company and some decent sleep. Ziva curled up gripping the child's hand, holding her as though she would never let her go again. With a smile Tony left his two girls, he didn't want to but they had each other to protect each other, his two little ninjas would be fine.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs arrived at the hospital early with his usual cup of coffee in his hand, Tony was standing with Ziva talking to the doctors so he took the opportunity to slip round and see Tali, she had her eyes closed when he entered so he watched her still unable to believe what she had gone through and survived. She opened her eyes then and smiled Tony's cheeky smile "hey uncle Gibbs you are here early" he moved forward and kissed her on the cheek, "I don't think I have ever seen your father up this early" he told her making her grin "how you feeling sweetheart" she shrugged "ok my back hurts like hell" "I know but it will get better, I've been blown up before" he said seeing her confused face.

"hey boss" Tony said "and good morning my little ninja chick, I can actually call you that now, you little kick ass" Tali giggled and hugged her daddy tightly "can I go home today" she asked eagerly Tony looked at Ziva "nah he said teasingly,, we like it without you it is lovely and quiet at home" Ziva hit him on the back of the head "its not quiet with you around" she fired back "owned" Tali laughed.

They signed the discharge papers and made another appointment in a couple of days and then they left but they headed for NCIS, Tali's face brightened "nice" she said happily "yeah we should warn you, no one has told Abby you are alive so be careful" Tony warned causing her to giggle, they rode up to the bullpen with Gibbs and once they arrived Tali poked her head out cautiously before stepping out and creeping to the little wall by her mother's desk, Gibbs and her parents sat at their desks, Abby was sitting at McGee's desk looking so sad "cheer up Abs" Gibbs said she glared at him, Tali chose that moment to saunter into the bullpen and hop onto her fathers lap, but Abby was so busy glaring at Gibbs she didn't notice.

"how can you say that so soon after what happened to Tali you were her godfather, you should be more upset" "Abby" Tali called but Abby continued "I mean come on Gibbs, it must be hard for Tony and Ziva to have lost their only child and you are acting like she never even existed" "Abby" Tali called slightly louder but again Abby didn't hear "why have you even brought them into work they should have the day off to morn the loss in fact we should all have the day off to morn her, I mean she was so sweet and cheeky and …" "ABBY" Tali yelled, the forensic scientist swung round briefly "what" she shouted and then she froze staring at Tali where the girl sat snuggled into her father's chest, Tali waved.

There was a loud shriek from the Goth and she hurled herself towards the child, Tali stood up but was almost sent flying as Abby collided with her hugging her tight enough to squeeze the life out of her, Tony grinned at Ziva "well I never thought I would have a child who could survive getting kidnapped and blown up but would die at the hands of a over excited Goth" Ziva laughed.

"Can't breathe Abby" Tali eventually managed to gasp, Abby released her and then grabbed her and stared at her "oh my god you are alive" she shrieked causing everyone on the floor to stare at them, Gibbs saw Director Vance leaning on the rail above watching the scene with a small smile, he hadn't been to happy with letting Tony and Ziva continue working together after they had come clean, but they had already been working well together and as long as they kept their personal life to themselves he said they could stay together.

"you look like hell" Abby said examining the child "thanks" Tali mumbled "she got kidnapped and blow up what else would you expect" Gibbs said, McGee walked in at that moment "your out of hospital" he said to Tali in delight, Abby glared at him "you knew she was alive and you didn't tell me McGee" she cried, McGee backed away "I thought someone would have already told you" he stammered. Abby continued to glower at him, until Tali leapt forward "lets go to your lab" she sang and with a smile Abby followed, forgiving everyone, Tali defiantly had a way with people Gibbs thought with a smile as he returned to all his work

**Hope you liked it PLEASE let me know, open to any and all suggestions**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	12. Chapter 12 No More Secrets

**Haha thanks for the reviews guys, they are much appreciated.**

**Hope you like it**

Chapter 12 –

Tali sat in the bullpen with McGee and Gibbs waiting for her parents to come back from an interview, she had spent the day with Abby being constantly hugged and told that it was amazing that she had survived, she had come up though because she knew that she would have to tell the story of what had happened to her eventually and now she knew what her mother had done in Mossad she wanted the truth about her Israeli family, he mother had told her that her father hadn't wanted her to have a child and had called her a disgrace to the family, but she hadn't told Tali about her father's threat to come and take Tali away from them and she didn't want to, she didn't want to frighten her daughter, she was only 12 after all.

Tali only suddenly wanted to know because while she had been held hostage they had told her so much about her mother and her grandfather, that it frightened her. She didn't have any grandparents or other family that were blood related, but her NCIS family more than made up for that, she loved them all as though they were her blood relatives, they couldn't be a stronger family, her father's father had apparently been notified when she had been born but had never acknowledged her ever. But she didn't care and her dad said they were better off without him.

She was watching McGee hacking into something grumbling as he did so, "think you can do it" he asked, every time he hacked something and she was present, he would ask her to obviously wanting to see what she had learned. "No McGee she is not going to hack anything, she is way too young to have a criminal record" Gibbs said without looking up from his work. Tali giggled and went over to see what her godfather was doing, "you know it would be so much quicker on a computer Uncle Gibbs" she said watching him write out a report long hand "computers are unreliable" he said "they loose work easily, at least I know where it is now" she shook her head and shrugged, she often had the same conversation with him and often got the same answer.

She heard the elevator doors ding and whirled round, her parents were coming into the bullpen bickering as usual, Tali grinned at Gibbs who rolled his eyes at her "believe me it was worse before you were born" he muttered "I find that hard to believe" she said sniggering. Then she leapt forward as she had when she was young and wrapped her arms around her fathers waist, he stopped arguing instantly and smiled "hey what you doing up here ninja", she looked at him for a minute before saying to the whole bullpen "I know you are waiting to ask me what happened to me, but I don't want to wait, I am ready to tell you what happened now"

Everyone stopped and looked at her "are you sure Tali sweetheart" Gibbs asked gently, she nodded, "I want to move on, so let me tell you what happened so I can forget it", Tony looked at Ziva, who looked at Gibbs who relied softly "ok if you are sure, Tony Ziva you stay here" he said as they moved towards him "but" Ziva began but Tali shook her head "I don want you to hear about what happened to me mom" she whispered going forward to wrap her arms around her, Gibbs looked at her firmly, so she kissed Tali gently before watching her follow Gibbs up the stairs, to Vance's office.

"why are we going to Director Vance" Tali asked jogging to keep up, Gibbs looked at her gently "he told me that when I asked you what had happened, he wanted to be there", he pushed open the door to the small lobby and strode right past the receptionist who called to him to knock but he didn't he strolled straight in.

Vance looked up as his door opened without a knock, he knew who that was "and to what do I owe the pleasure Gibbs" he asked, Gibbs held the door open and Tony and Ziva's daughter entered, she appeared calm, but he watched her eyes flash around the room searching for any danger, he had never really got to know Tali, though he kept a close eye on her parents making sure that they worked to a high standard as usual, they always worked hard even when she was with them, well Tony never really worked hard, but he got the job done, so you couldn't complain, and Ziva was a valuable asset to the team, great for undercover work, you didn't have to worry about her because you knew she could look after herself, she had also been useful at maintaining a friendship with Mossad, especially when she had been a lesion officer, but that had all changed when she had got pregnant, and refused to follow her fathers orders to abort the baby, he had been furious, and had asked Vance to send Ziva back to Israel, after he had found out that the baby had been born, Vance had asked Ziva but she had refused and he didn't really want to push her, the relationship between him and Eli had been a bit touchy for a while after that but they had gotten over that but they never mentioned Ziva, Tali or any of Gibbs' team in any of their conversations.

He studied the girl who stood next to Gibbs who held himself with an air of defence to him; he wouldn't let anything else happen to the child. The girl had her head held high proud and defiant, she had the same air to her as Ziva, with her slightly darkened skin tone and tough stance, but there was Tony in her, the eyes, the mouth especially when she was smiling cheekily. But she was different to the other times he had seen her, even if they had all been from a distance. Although she seemed proud he could see that she was nervous, and she kept glancing at her godfather to reassure herself, she was still bruised and beaten, he had seen the video of what had happened to her and was surprised she was still sane. He could see some of the cattle prod marks on her arms, there were also other injuries, she had a swollen cheek, and a slightly blackened eye, every inch of her appeared to have been beaten, he felt for the girl, she really had been through hell, but amazingly she had survived.

He looked at Gibbs who said softly, 'she says she is ready', he looked at Tali again "are you sure, we can wait if you want", the young girl shook her head firmly "I want to do it now, I want to move on" she seemed certain, and very determined Vance thought. He nodded "all right then" he stood up and went round his desk and took her and Gibbs to the large conference table in his office, he gestured for Tali to take the seat at the head and he and Gibbs took seats either side of her, he pulled out a recorder and placed it on the table, "take your time" he said reassuringly, Tali looked at Gibbs who nodded encouragingly and so with a deep breath began to tell her tale.

She told of how they had been attacked at the gas station, trying to tell as much as she could remember, she told them of how she had hit her head and been thrown in the boot of the car, where she had heard the bounty hunters talking, she recalled as much of their conversation as she could, then she told how she had tricked them into thinking she was still out cold, using the training her mother had given her. Next she informed them of how she had managed to call Gibbs, and Gibbs told of how that had helped them have a rough estimate of where she had been but as her phone had been destroyed they hadn't been able to complete the trace. She told of how they had threatened her and then given her to Dayan who had told her that she had been brought their because of her mother. She didn't say much of what he had told her of her mother, just that his father had killed her aunt and in return out of grief Ziva had killed Dayan's father.

Then she told about the little room she had been left in with barely any food and water for 3 days before being brought as proof to her mother, she told of how she knew that if her mother had come she would have been killed so she tried to warn her, that was when she had been beaten, she said that they had used the cattle prod on her long after they had ended the conversation as well as hurting her in other ways about which she refused to elaborate.

Vance then asked about what had happened when she had managed to escape, and she told them of her little fight with the guards, and how she had knocked them out before running to the computer room knowing that she wouldn't get far if she did get out without help. Vance looked a bit suspicious when she said that she had managed after a few attempts to destroy the firewalls, but let it go as she moved on to how she had distracted the guards so she could climb into the vents and then of the conversation she had over heard, she couldn't tell them much on who the other man was, all she could say was that he was rich, Israeli and from the looks of him it was not his first time planting bombs.

She then told of how they had told her mother that she was dead and then they had left but not before she had heard them talk about the bomb and had seen the plans so she had known where the switch was, after they had left, not knowing that her family was coming for her instead of going for the bomb she had run too, she had managed to hitch a lift to Norfolk and then it hadn't been hard to get on the ship, she had gone to the captains office and found out where all the oil drums had been kept, before going to look for them, "and that's where I ran into the team" she finished "and I assume you know the rest"

Vance nodded, she had kept herself together throughout the whole time she was telling her tale, he could see that under all that control there was fear, fear that one the men who escaped would come back for her. "thank you Tali" he said, Gibbs touched the girls hand "you ok" he asked softly, Tali nodded before looking down at her hands clasped in her lap, Gibbs knew she was lying, she knew how to lie properly, so she couldn't seriously be all right. He looked at Vance who nodded and then he stood waiting for Tali to follow him, she did so slowly but by the time they had reached the top of the stairs she had bottled all her emotions back up again and she did a little skip to catch up.

Back in the bullpen Ziva glanced at the clock every minute of so followed by a look towards the director's office; Tony watched her he did the same but not as often.

"When is Tali going back to school" McGee asked trying to break the awkward silence, "when she feels ready" Ziva responded looking at Tony who nodded, Ziva glanced up the stairs and her face brightened, swinging round Tony and McGee saw Tali and Gibbs descending the stairs, Tali looked ok Tony thought watching her as she did a little skip to catch up with Gibbs, they entered the bullpen and Tali went and hugged her mother tightly, Ziva seemed slightly surprised but hugged Tali back just as firmly.

They left not long after, and once home they noticed the same things that Vance noticed, Tali looked under control but really they could see her fear, she hid them well but they had watched her grow, they knew all her little traits and secrets. Every time something moved her eyes would flash to it uncertainly, if someone went past in the hall outside she would edge away from the door uncertainly.

Ziva didn't show it but she was afraid, so that night she went into her daughters as she got ready for bed, Tali smiled at her as she jumped into the bed and snuggled down under the covers, "are you going to be ok" Ziva whispered, Tali shrugged, "I should be" Ziva keened forward and kissed her daughter before turning and walking towards the door, "he told me what you did in Mossad" Ziva froze before turning slowly, Tali was watching her she looked like she had just blurted that out without thinking, she watched her mother's reaction carefully her face expressionless, Ziva looked at her, thinking, before realising it was time to tell her the truth.

"What did he tell you" she asked quietly moving to sit once again on the end of the bed, Tali looked at her, she seemed to be deciding what to say and what to believe, "he told me you killed his father, because he killed your sister" Ziva watched her face as she said that, she didn't seem upset or worried, she just seemed to want to know the truth, carefully she decided to tell her everything and get the inevitable talk over and done with, "yes" she said with a heavy heart "I killed his father" Tali's expression or lack there of didn't change, she had learnt that from Gibbs, "he also said you killed others, anyone who got in your way, he said you were the best and you moved up the ranks because you didn't care about the consequences"

Ziva stared into her eyes, they were so similar to Tony's, the same golden greenie brown, usually like Tony's they were cheeky and sparkling, but now they were serious, desperate for answers, "yes" she said again, she was afraid of how Tali would react to finding out her mother was a killer, but she didn't react at all. Silently Ziva cursed Gibbs for teaching her how to control her facial emotions and how to lie so convincingly.

Tali watched her, she still didn't appear afraid "what was it like" she asked Ziva had to think about that "hard" she said finally "we were trained from the moment we started to never hold back, to give our all, it was drilled into us that we should never feel any emotion except anger, but we had to control it, we could never let it get the better of us, but I did after my sister died, I was so mad I had to get revenge, when my father let slip who killed Tali I don't think he thought I would go hunt him down, but I did, disobeying orders, I stared into his eyes as I killed him, and for the first time since Tali died I felt free"

She looked down at her daughter afraid that she might be scaring her, but Tali was tougher than she looked, she was listening, not eagerly, but intently, obviously glad to finally be hearing the truth, she had never told anyone this, not even Tony, it felt good to let it out. She told the rest of her tale, telling her how she had been shipped to America, where she had discovered a life outside of Mossad and found a family that actually cared for her, rather than a family who used her. Tali listened snuggled up against her chest. When she had finished she looked down at her daughter, Tali had her eyes closed and at first she thought she had drifted off to sleep, but hen she opened her eyes and gazed at her mother "thank you for telling me" she said Ziva smiled "Eyn davar" (your welcome) they lay there together for a while until Tony came in looking for his girls, she stood watching them for a minute before moving forward and climbing onto the other side of Tali "scoot over ninja" he said using his new nickname for her, Tali shuffled over before resting her head on her dad's shoulder. They lay there until Tali fell asleep, then they slowly untangled themselves from her and went to bed.

Ziva rolled over to Tony who kissed her softly "Ani ohevet otakh Zee" (I love you Zee) Ziva smiled back at him "Ani ohevet otakh Tony" she whispered back, they lay there together until they heard a small thump, they both sat up only relaxing when a small figure came in and scrambled in between them, and snuggled up to them.

The whole family fell asleep like that clutching each other, glad to be reunited together once again, afraid to let go, afraid that once again one of them might to snatched away and they would be separated once again.

XOXOXOXOXO

Meanwhile in some dusty motel room Dayan was fuming, that child, she had escaped and had ruined his plan, she had stopped the bomb from killing Ziva David and the bomb had had little other impact. He was going to find that child and her mother, then he was going to kill Ziva David and her precious daughter would be next.

**Hope you liked it, sorry it has been so long. Will try to update soon, but GCSE's start soon so wont be for a while, this has been written very slowly, a couple of paragraphs a night.**

**Let me know what you think PLEASE open to any and all suggestions, was thinking of maybe Dayan trying to get revenge on them both in the next chapter what do you think.**

**Let me know, If anyone wants a specific story, check out my profile and see if I know the show, or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give it a go. **

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	13. Chapter 13 Videos and Victims

**Thanks for the reviews, please keep letting me know what you think. Hope you like it,**

Chapter 13 –

Tony woke up early but her didn't move, he felt so relaxed, he opened his eyes slowly to see Tali curled up in his arms, he watched her sleep she was peaceful, the past week at the back of her mind for now. He looked over at his wife, Ziva was gripping one of Tali's hands the other resting on his arm, and she too looked peaceful. He watched his girls sleep, marvelling at how lucky he was, Ziva was certainly the girl of his dreams, and Tali was perfect.

Tali shifted snuggling closer to him, he tightened his grip on her, she was so brave but he knew that she was afraid, afraid that one day Dayan might come back for her, he was scared too, but he wouldn't admit it. He was also afraid of Mossad, Ziva had told him what her father had threatened her, but he had told her that their child would be fine, he wouldn't let Eli David anywhere near him or her. He had also said he wouldn't let anyone hurt her but he had let her down there, she had been snatched away and he hadn't been able to do anything about it.

Ziva opened her eyes then and looked straight at him with those warm chocolate eyes that he loved "boker tov" he whispered to her making her smile "shalom" she whispered back, she looked down at Tali and smiled "being a daddy's girl" she said smiling brushing hair out of her face, Tony grinned happily back and they both watched her sleep, until she woke up and looked at them "what" she mumbled, Tony smiled and kissed her "nothing just watching you sleep, you look peaceful" Tali yawned "mmm nice peaceful dream".

Tony looked at the clock and then yelped "oh jeez we are going to be so late" they all leapt up, Tali decided that as it was Friday she would go to school that day and see how it went, then have the weekend off and decide on Monday whether or not she would go. They ate quickly and rushed out the door; Ziva called McGee and told him to tell Gibbs that they were going to talk to Tali's teachers about her absence so they would be late. "Call us if you need us ninja" Tony said looking in his rear view mirror at Tali who nodded.

They explained about her absence to all the teachers present who all promised to let the others know. They then turned to Tali who suddenly looked worried, as if she was regretting her decision, Ziva bent to her level and took her chin gently and made her look into her eyes "call us" she said firmly before hugging the child who held her tightly "havtakhah" (promise me) Tali looked at her solemnly "ani mavticha ima" (I promise mum" Ziva smiled before touching her cheek and allowing Tony to say goodbye "no fighting anyone ninja" he said with a grin Tali grinned back and hugged him, Ziva watched as Tony closed his eyes holding her tightly savouring the moment before he too released her.

Tali smiled at them as if trying to reassure them, then she stepped away into the corridor and was swallowed up in the crowds of students, Ziva watched her go, regretting letting her, Tony placed a hand on her shoulder "she will be fine Zee, she is a mini you, a ninja" Ziva smiled "I know Tony, come on lets go to work

XOXOXOXOXOXO

When they arrived, McGee and Gibbs were staring at the monitor, Abby was next to them, they all looked rather stunned, "morning" Tony called out cheerfully dumping his bag next to his desk, they all whirled round "where's Tali" Abby asked looking slightly disappointed to find out that her little lab buddy wasn't in today "at school" Ziva said "she wanted to go in, what are you looking at" she moved in and saw it was a video from a security camera, it was in black and white "what is that" she asked, Gibbs looked rather uncertain about answering so when he did he was very careful. "it's the security feed from the warehouse where Tali was held" both Tony and Ziva froze staring at him.

"where did you get it" Tony asked "we went back last night after you left to see if we could find out who the other men were and whether they had left any clue about who they are" McGee said "they hadn't erased any of it so we have all of it from when the cameras were first set up 2 months ago", Tony nodded, McGee looked at his boss who took the remote and rewound the video to the beginning, showing them setting the cameras up and putting up a bank of computers, "I have a programme running down the other peoples face's" Abby said "I don't know how long it will take though"

They continued to watch, fast forwarding until they saw Tali being brought it, the bounty hunters kept throwing her, and shoving her so that she struggled to remain standing, Ziva gritted her teeth, they watched as Tali was forced to her knees where she remained trembling, a few minutes later the bounty hunters left and Dayan ordered all him men out, he cut Tali's cuffs before pulling her head back to look at her, there was no sound so they could not make out what was being said, but it obviously upset Tali because the guards were brought in and she was dragged away kicking and screaming all the while.

They watched her being forced into the small room Tony had found her jumper in and there she stayed for four days, only once in those four days did the door open for a tiny plate of food and a small cup of water to be pushed in which she fell on obviously starving. Gibbs stopped it when she was dragged out again and back into the computer room before fast forwarding it again so they didn't see her get tortured again, they watched though her escape.

Ziva stared at her daughter on the screen watching as she yanked the guards down making them stumble, then pulled herself free, ducking around the guards swings she swung her leg up catching both of them in thee throat and head sending them crumpling to the ground before she turned and ran. "wow" she heard Tony say "unbelievable, she is amazing at fighting" she had to agree, Tali was certainly unique, and very special.

XOXOXOXO

A month passed and everyone relaxed slightly, they fell back into their normal routine, and Tali caught up with her work, the girl she had saved from the bully – Chloe became a firm friend and at school they were rarely seen apart. Tali continued to come to NCIS in the evenings often going down to Abby's lab especially if she had loads of science homework, then she would come and hang out with her uncles. Life settled back to normal, and it was only Tali who seemed worried still, but they all thought that, it was to be expected. But Tali remembered what Dayan had said to her the first time they had talked _"you have to be patient to get your revenge"_ she guessed that one day he would come for her mother again and as she had ruined his plan, probably her too.

XOXOXOXOXO

3 days later she and Chloe were walking down the hall to their last lesson, they were chattering quite happily, when they heard someone shout "Talia DiNozzo" Tali groaned wondering what she had done now, "seriously I have been at this school for 2 years now and they still call me Talia when I have repeatedly asked them to call me Tali" Chloe smiled and they both turned to see a man running towards them, he stopped "Talia" he asked looking at Tali who nodded "Tali" she corrected, he didn't reply he just pulled out a badge and flashed it at her "NCIS" he said " I was sent to come get you, your parents are at the hospital and they asked me to pick you up"

Tali stared at him "what both of them are in the hospital" "I don't know the details, I think you mother was shot and then your father wounded protecting her, if you would come with me I will take you to them" Tali nodded and looked at Chloe who nodded and promised to tell the teachers what had happened "I hope your parents are ok Tali" she called after her friend as she followed the agent down the hall.

Her escort walked very fast and Tali had to jog to keep up with him "so where in NCIS do you work because I am there all the time and I have never seen you before" "I work in a different area" he said shortly. Tali frowned NCIS wasn't that big, they were walking towards a big black car like the ones at NCIS "who's your team leader" she asked now a bit suspicious, the door to the car opened "I am his boss" Tali froze staggering back "hello Talia Kaitlyn" Dayan said with a smile "you are meant to be dead" her escort grabbed for her but she ducked round him and ran as fast as she could towards the school, pounding footfalls told her she was being chased and she knew she wouldn't make it inside in time she ran at the wall and slammed her fist against the fire alarm.

The wailing siren began and she heard shouting from inside, there was a curse and she was grabbed from behind, she struggled desperately as she was dragged towards the car again, a hand over her mouth muffling her screams, suddenly there was a pain on the side of her neck and the world instantly went black.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Tony stared at his computer, groaning as it slowly loaded the page he was looking for, Ziva watched him a smirk on her face "computer struggling to shoe up Tony" Tony groaned "it's _Boot _up Zee seriously" Ziva rolled her eyes at him, and then they both shot up as they heard Gibbs shout "DiNozzos" "yes boss" Tony called "are you not forgetting something, why are you still here" they looked at each other and then back at Gibbs "your daughter" he said, "the school called me because you weren't picking up, the fire alarm got pulled, they need you to come get Tali now", they grabbed their stuff and then they were running out the door, Gibbs shook his head, and sat down at his desk taking a long swig of his coffee, Tony's phone had run out of battery and Ziva had obviously put hers on silent, he didn't mind being the emergency contact, but he had a horrible feeling that something was wrong, in his gut he had a nagging feeling that Tali was once again in danger.

XOXOXOXOXO

Ziva drove to the school which was why they arrived after 10 minutes when the school was a good 20 minutes from NCIS. When they arrived they were surprised to see the playground full of children with teachers struggling to keep them in line as they took a role call, parents were making their way over and as soon as their child had been registered they were whisked away.

Frowning they both got out and went over to where the head teacher was standing looking rather annoyed, "hey what's going on" Tony asked as they approached showing him his badge, the principal looked grumpily at them "nothing serious some kid pulled the fire alarm in the car park, but we had to evacuate any way, that kid is in so much trouble"

Suddenly from behind them they heard "Tony, Ziva what are you doing here" they both turned to see Tali's friend Chloe standing there looking very confused "hey Chloe we came to get Tali why wouldn't we be here" Ziva said frowning in confusion "but the agent that she left with said you were in the hospital after getting shot"

Tony, Ziva and the headmaster stared at her "what we haven't been shot, what do you mean, who was this agent" Tony asked, Chloe suddenly looked worried "he said he was NCIS, he had a badge but he didn't tell us his name" Ziva bent to Chloe's level "when was this" she asked silently already guessing the answer, Chloe's eyes widened in realisation "right before the firs alarm went off" she said slowly and Ziva leapt up swearing in Hebrew. Tony turned to the principal "security cameras" he said urgently "I'll take you to the security office" he said and they both hurried after him taking Chloe with them.

They watched the on the small monitor as people came in and out, until Chloe pointed at someone "that's him" she said and they froze the image "I don't recognise him" Ziva said squinting at the image, Tony shook he head "me neither", they watched until they saw Tali coming out after him, she was talking to him and she looked rather suspicious, suddenly a door to a car, rather like their own opened and Tali staggered back a look of terror on her face, the man reached for her but she ducked away, they watched as the man tore after her, he was almost upon her when she suddenly lunged herself towards the wall and slammed her fist into the fire alarm, then she was grabbed and was being dragged away once again, they stabbed something into her neck and she instantly stopped struggling and she was thrown into the boot of the car, then with a screech of tyres the car pulled away, seconds later the whole school came flooding into the car park.

Ziva grabbed the remote and rewound until they reached the part where the car door opened then she zoomed in and a horribly familiar face could be seen, they both stared at it in horror before whispering at the same time "Dayan", then they both turned and ran out of the office leaping into their car, and Ziva drove towards where Tali had been held last time "they wont have taken her there Zee" Tony said he sounded scared again "yes they have" Ziva said "because they want me to find them so Dayan can get his revenge" "What" Tony shouted "are you crazy, Ziva go to NCIS, get Gibbs and some back up" "no Tony" she shouted tears pouring down her cheeks " I have to go now I don't want her with him any longer than she has to be, you wait outside and I will get him to release her, you take her and take care of her Tony, promise me", the car skidded to a stop outside the warehouse and Ziva climbed out but Tony scrambled out there after her "no Ziva you are not going in there alone, I am coming with you, I cant loose you both" Ziva struggled as he held her gripping her arm "let go Tony I have to do this, please Tony I love you but you have to let me go"

Tony stared at her "I can't Zee I love you too much" Ziva looked at him "if you really love me" she said quietly "you will let me go and save our daughter" Tony stared at her tears streaming down his cheeks "I can't" he whispered "I can't loose you"

"N'aww that's sweet, but I am afraid you are going to have to" they both whirled round at the sound of Dayan's voice, they instantly drew their weapons and pointed it at him "ah ah I wouldn't shoot me if I were you" he said calmly and looked over their shoulder, turning slightly they saw two men approaching carrying Tali in between them, she was still out cold, there was a knife pressed against her throat. Ziva turned back to Dayan desperately "please let her go" she begged "she is just a child" Dayan laughed "oh she is not _just_ a child Ziva, I know you saw the security footage of her taking out my men, she is good, like you, and besides I want to kill her too, she stopped my previous plan from working"

Ziva stared at him desperately, before turning back to her daughter, Tony was gazing at her desperately "now" Dayan said "I suggest you drop all your weapons and your phones before I allow my men, who are the men she took out to slit her throat and believe me they are dying to do that", glaring at him whilst glancing at her daughter's vulnerable form, Ziva slowly placed her gun and her mobile on the ground and stepped away from them, she looked at Tony who stared at her pleadingly "and you Agent DiNozzo" Dayan called, "no" Ziva cried desperately "please leave him out of this" Dayan looked at her coldly and then pointedly at Tony and the knife against Tali's throat twitched and a few beads of blood dribbled down her pale neck, Tony dropped his stuff next to Ziva's and stepped back next to Ziva, glaring at Dayan who simply smiled back "very good," he said before turning and walking towards a car "see you all soon" he called and them they both felt a pain in the sides of their neck and they too blacked out.

Dayan watched his men load the family into a van binding their wrists tightly, this time everything had gone as planned, he knew it wouldn't be long before the rest of their team realised they were missing so they had to leave quickly. But he wasn't worried, he felt triumphant, as last he would get his revenge, revenge he had been waiting for, for over 20 years.

**Hope you liked it, please let me know, open to any and all suggestions, will try and update soon**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	14. Chapter 14 Fear and Worry

**Wow thanks for all they reviews guys please keep them coming, I am so glad that you all like this story and a big thank you to all those who have read and reviewed from the very beginning. Thanks, this story could not have happened without your support. Well hope you still like it, have an idea which is why this story is still going, let me know if you think I am dragging it on a bit.**

Chapter 14 –

Tony's head hurt, there was a throbbing pain at the back of his skull and it hurt, there was a pain on the side of his neck too, he could feel more and more as he gradually began to come round, the first thing he felt was the cold hard floor beneath him, and the flexi cuffs around his wrists biting into his flesh, and he could hear someone talking saying the same thing over and over again "dad, dad please dad wake up" he groaned, he didn't want to wake up, he wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, and wake up to find out that this was all a bad dream "dad" the voice of a frightened little girl begged "please wake up I'm scared daddy" Tali he realised, his baby girl needed him.

He forced his eyes open, Tali was kneeling over him, shaking him desperately, her wrists like his were bound with flexi cuffs, "Tali" he whispered "are you ok sweetheart, have they hurt you" he pulled himself up into a sitting position and as best he could with tied wrists he pulled her onto his lap and cradled her as she shook her head "no" she whispered "not yet", he hugged her as she snuggled into his chest, shivering with either fear or the cold "it's ok" he said softly rocking her gently "we are gonna be ok ninja, I promise everything is gonna be ok", she shivering lessened slightly and Tony still gripping her looked around.

They were in a bare room, with a single light bulb as the only source of light, there was no window. There was an iron door set on the wall to his left, it looked very sturdy and strong. The walls and floor were made of stone, and there was water dripping down them, mould and moss was growing in various places, and there was a terrible stench of rotting in the air, that was all there was in the room, he realised, apart from him and Tali, the room was empty.

"where's you mother" he asked urgently and a sob racked through Tali's small frame "I don't know" she sobbed "she wasn't here when I woke up" Tony hugged her again, trying not to think the worst, it was Ziva, Dayan really wanted, and Tali for afters, he hoped that Ziva was still alive, if something happened to her, he couldn't bare to think of life without her. He knew he had to remain strong, for Tali, she was terrified he knew, this time Dayan actually wanted to kill her, rather than just use her as leverage and his men wouldn't be so easy to escape from this time. He continued to hold his daughter, hoping, praying that Ziva was ok.

XOXOXOXOXO

Ziva gasped as she jerked awake instantly beginning to struggle, her wrists were bound behind her back and she was sitting in a chair, Dayan was standing in front of her, looking out the window, looking around she saw that the room had been set up in a similar way to the one at the previous head quarters. There was the bank of computers and the throne like chair next to hers. Looking round she saw guards all glaring at her, huge guns in their hands. Frantically she tugged at her restraints, straining against them, but they were tight and strong.

"are you done" she looked up to find that Dayan had turned and was watching her she glowered at him "where are Tony and Tali" she demanded "where is my family" Dayan simply looked at her for a minute before turning to look out the window again "your family is safe, they are locked up nice and tight, and that is where they will stay until I am done with them" he said without looking at her, Ziva stared at him "please" she begged "let them go, you can have me but please let them go, they have nothing that you want, I am the one you want not them", Dayan laughed, "they do have something that I want Ziva" he walked over to her and leaned in close, Ziva pulled away as he traced a finger down her cheek. "they have the ability to cause you pain, because I know that torture does not have the same affect on you as it does others, you have been trained to cope with the pain to not show it, but if I were to hurt your precious Tali" he smiled at her and Ziva stared at him in horror "I think you might show the pain a bit more"

"you wouldn't" Ziva whispered "oh Ziva didn't you see in the video that I am not afraid of hurting children, and your daughter does fascinate me, she is a little you and I don't want another version of you running round out to get me for killing you" Dayan laughed, "that would lead to a never ending circle of bloodshed" Ziva tugged at her restraints again now terrified for her daughters life "give up Ziva" Dayan said looking at her "I have won, it is over" Ziva snarled at him "I wont give up fighting for my daughter until my dying breath" "oh that might be a bit difficult" Dayan said smirking "she is to die before you and you are to watch, to cause you the maximum amount of pain"

He walked over to the table and poured himself a drink, Ziva hung her head, trying to look in defeat as she continued to wriggle her wrists slowly trying to work them out of the cuffs, Dayan walked over to the chair and sat down, "do what you want to her, except kill her" he said to no one in particular "but make sure she feels it".

A group of his men surged forward and Ziva closed her eyes as they began to beat her, in her mind she saw a memory, one of her favourites.

_At the park with the whole team, Tali 5 was running around with Tony who was chasing her, she ran towards Gibbs who scooped her up and began to tickle her and soon her shrieks and giggles of delight were echoing around the field, Gibbs released her and allowed her to scurry over to where Ziva was sitting, Tony dropped down next to her wrapping his arms around her as Tali stumbled forward and fell onto Ziva's lap giggling still, they all sat on a blanket, it was there day off and they chose to spend it together, having a picnic, playing with Tali, Ziva lay down resting her head in Tony's lap watching McGee and Gibbs playing with Tali in the playground, Abby was there too and she was scrambling over the climbing frame like a child herself. Ducky was sitting on the blanket with Tony and Ziva recalling a past memory of his own to Palmer. _

_Ziva closed her eyes feeling the sun beating down on her closed eyelids and Tony's hand stroking her cheek, Tali's laugh echoing in her ears, that moment was certainly perfect._

That memory got her through what happened to her next, and when she finally opened her eyes when it was over she was rewarded by the look of fury on Dayan's face at her control. "put her with her family" he said coldly "so she can say goodbye and tell her daughter how sorry she is, because whatever happens to her next if all your fault" he said the last part right in her face, but she didn't flinch she stared into his fathomless black eyes staying proud "indeed mother and daughter are very much alike" he murmured as Ziva felt her cuffs being cut, she tried to fight but couldn't she could barely stand, she struggled feebly as she was dragged off towards a strong iron door which was unlocked and dragged open, and she was thrown inside.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Tony sat up against the wall trying to comfort Tali, but he couldn't, he knew the probability of her getting out of this alive was very slim, how could you lie to your daughter who knew it herself that she was going to die.

He heard shouting and the sound of the door being unlocked, it was opened just wide enough for 1 man to come in and another figure to be thrown in, the man grabbed their wrists and cut the cuffs and left but not before he gave their new cell mate a hard kick in the chest that made them groan and roll over.

The door slammed shut and Tony stared in horror at his wife "oh Ziva" he breathed, "mom" Tali sobbed scrambling over to her, Tony ever so carefully gathered her into his arms and carried her away from the door, laying her down. She looked awful, worse than he had ever seen her, worse than when they had rescued her from Somalia. There was hardly an area of her body that had not been pummelled mercilessly. She gazed at him through swollen eyes "Tony" she whispered, lifting one hand to touch his cheek, he caught hold of her hand and held it "yes" he whispered "I'm here Zee I'm not going to leave you" she closed her eyes for a second before asking hoarsely "Tali" Tony looked up and Tali crawled into her mothers line of sight tears still streaming down her cheeks.

At the sight of her daughter Ziva hauled herself up into a sitting position and held out her arms for Tali to crawl into, Tali lay there fresh tears in her eyes "hush tateleh everything is going to be ok" she whispered, she saw tears in Tony's eyes and knew that he to knew that they were not going to escape this alive. Tony pulled her into his arms and hugged her wrapping his arms around Tali to and eventually that was how they drifted off into an uneasy sleep, afraid to let go.

XOXOXOXOXO

The next morning Gibbs came into work to find the bullpen empty, but that wasn't unusual for this time in the morning, he settled down at his desk and tried to start up his computer and remember how to use his emails, but he soon gave up.

McGee came in half an hour later greeting him cheerfully, they hadn't seen or heard from Tony or Ziva since they had bolted out of the bullpen to get Tali, and Gibbs had the nagging suspicion that something was wrong. He waited though until the time that they usually came in though before he started to worry, every time the elevator dinged signalling a new arrival to their floor he looked up expectantly expecting to see Tony and Ziva come striding towards them bickering loudly, maybe with Tali with them, who would come running over to say hi as she always did no matter how old she got.

When they were an hour late, he allowed his worries to come to the surface "McGee" he snapped making the young agent jump "yes boss" he said looking at him expectantly "call Tony and Ziva's home phone" McGee did so putting it on speaker, so they both heard the phone ring before Tony's voice could be heard telling them to leave a message, "call their cells" Gibbs ordered pulling out his own phone and calling Ziva whilst McGee called Tony's. Again both went to voicemail.

He and McGee stared at each other in confusion before Gibbs called the school and asked to speak to Talia DiNozzo "Miss DiNozzo is not in school today" the receptionist told him, she sounded rather surprised, "didn't her parents tell you" "tell me what" Gibbs asked now seriously worried "it was Miss DiNozzo who pulled the fire alarm, we saw it on the video, her parents watched it and bolted out the door" struggling to remain calm Gibbs asked to speak to the head, who had seen the video, he explained what he had seen and said he would send the footage to them, after thanking him Gibbs hung up.

"trace Tony and Ziva's phones" he ordered but McGee was already halfway through doing it, Gibbs already had a sinking suspicion that he knew where they were and when the two blue dots appeared his fears were confirmed "isn't that" McGee asked trailing off, but Gibbs finished it for him "where Tali was held" he said "grab your gear we are going over there".

XOXOXOXOXO

It didn't take long for them to arrive, Gibbs drove fast again and when he stopped McGee looked very green but determined. They leapt out and were approaching the warehouse when they spotted Tony and Ziva's guns and phones lying in a pile, nearby there were 2 small pools of blood, walking a few steps they found a third along with Tali's phone and her knife that she carried.

Gibbs stood up and yanked out his phone calling Vance and informing him that the whole DiNozzo family was now missing "even Tony" the director sounded surprised and Gibbs knew why, Ziva and Tali had annoyed Dayan in the past but Tony had never done anything to him "are you sure its Dayan Gibbs" he asked "we will have proof once the security footage from the school car park arrives, we will collect evidence here and then come back" Vance agreed to let them work this case but he didn't sound to happy.

Gibbs hung up and turned round McGee was already taking photographs and taking samples, he grabbed a second camera and followed some tracks trying to figure out what had happened, it looked like after they had been knocked out Tony and Ziva had been dragged over to a vehicle with Tali and been thrown inside, the vehicle had then driven away quite fast judging but the kick back. He took some pictures for Abby to analyse to determine what kind of vehicle it had been that had taken them; he also made a mould before checking for anything else useful, he crouched down and picked up Tali's knife, there was blood on it, not very much but he was still worried, he prayed that it wasn't Tali's blood. He bagged it and her phone and took a swab of the blood, it was only a few drops, probably came from the same place the blood on the knife came from he thought.

Once they had bagged, tagged and labelled everything and had taken many pictures they loaded everything into the car and sped back to NCIS, Ducky and Abby were waiting for them in the bullpen along with Vance who was looking worried, Abby sprinted over to Gibbs "did you find them" she demanded, the look on his face said it all, and her eyes filled with tears "we have evidence for you" Gibbs said quietly, Abby took the box and looked through it, pulling out the bag with Tali's knife, her eyes widened in horror "that's Tali's knife" she whispered "is that her blood oh Gibbs" she fell into Gibbs' arms crying heavily, he held her feeling exactly the same.

Dayan had Ziva now, there was no way he was going to let her escape and he was furious at Tali, the little girl might as well already be dead, he was so mad. And Tony, he had known Tony for nearly 20 years now and the cheeky agent was just like a son to him now, he was innocent in all this but he would protect Ziva and Tali to his dying breath, if his girls were going to die then Tony was going to die too.

Abby managed to pull herself together and the moment she had she grabbed the evidence and ran down to her lab determined to do everything she could to help, but Gibbs feared there was very little that any of them could do to help the family. All they could do was pray for a miracle.

**Hope you liked it, please let me know, would love to know what you think and if you have any suggestions I am happy to hear them**

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**Mysticgirl101 **


	15. Chapter 15 Confessions and Contact

**Hiya everyone, keep the reviews coming please, I hope this chapter is ok I started writing the moment I submitted the previous chapter, because I am addicted to both my current in progress stories, but I have to say, probably this one more, hope you like it.**

Chapter 15 –

Ziva lay in Tony's arms with her eyes closed, she and Tony were both clutching at Tali who was sleeping unsoundly, jerking and whimpering in her sleep, each time she jerked they instinctively tightened their grip on her and tried to reassure her, Ziva placed her hand over Tali's heart feeling it thud unsteadily, she kept her hand there, reassuring herself that for now Tali was still alive.

She could feel Tony's breath on the back of her neck and it felt reassuring to know that he was there, but in a way she whished he wasn't, he had nothing to with this, she wanted him to be freed so he could move on and live a happy life. Well as happy as he could after his daughter had been brutally murdered in front of him, she knew that both she and Tony would be forced to watch Tali be killed, she knew it would hurt to see Tony's pain, Dayan knew that too. She pressed herself tighter against Tony and felt his arm around her tighten, then she heard him whisper "Ani ohevet otakh Ziva" (I love you Ziva) she turned her head to look at him before whispering the same back, Tony pressed his forehead against hers, "I wish I had told you that sooner" he confessed "and then maybe we could have had more time, started a family sooner, so maybe Tali would be older and not a part of this, I should have told you the moment I knew that I loved you Ziva and that was the first time I saw you"

Ziva felt tears in her eyes as she listened to this and she too confessed "I knew too" she whispered "I knew the first time I saw you and I thought you were having phone sex" she felt Tony laugh gently "I knew that I loved you when we first went under cover as married assassins and when we were locked in that shipping container, I knew" she looked into his eyes gazing into his soul "I was afraid that you didn't feel the same way , I saw how you were after Jeanne Benoit and I was worried that you would never love me the same way you had loved her, and you were so happy with her"

She felt Tony chuckle "I was under cover Zee, I never truly loved Jeanne, it has always been you, I just got to far under cover with Jeanne and it was a shock to pull out, but the whole time I was with her, I kept thinking and whishing it was you, it tore me apart when you were with Rivkin or any other man" Ziva sighed, "wow all theses years of marriage and we still don't know everything about each other" "oh we know nearly everything, everything that is important" Tony whispered "you will never know how happy you have made me Zee, becoming my wife and giving me the most beautiful daughter in the world" Ziva smiled "I think I know" she said "I feel exactly the same way about you"

There was silence for a bit before Ziva asked "do you think Gibbs is knows we are missing yet and will he look for us" "oh Ziva of course he will look for us, well actually he will probably be looking for Tali not us" Ziva giggled briefly, stroking Tali's hair "I hope he finds her in time" she said "she doesn't have long left Tony" she felt him stiffen "what do you mean" she looked back into his eyes "Dayan told me that she was to die first, a slow and painful death, to hurt me"

She saw the anger in Tony's eyes and heard him curse Dayan to hell under his breath "when" he managed fear in his voice, Ziva shook her head "I don't know" she almost sobbed "soon though I would guess, or he will wait, hurt us more by not knowing, make us weak so we can do nothing to protect her" Tony shivered and they both tightened their grips on Tali. They remained like that until Tali stirred and rolled over to face them, her eyes still scared and confused, "what's wrong" she asked and they hastily hid their anxious scared expressions and assured her that they were fine and for now, everything would be fine, she didn't look convinced but let it go.

"how long have we been in here" she asked, Tony shrugged "don't know ninja you were taken from the school late afternoon and we not long after, so maybe a day and a half" "wow" Tali whispered "it feels like so much longer" Ziva stroked her cheek and asked "how did they get you sweetheart" Tali looked at her scared "this man came in and told me he was NCIS and had been sent to pick me up, he had a badge so I thought it was true, he said that you had been shot and dad injured protecting you, I went with him but I wasn't sure, because I didn't recognise him at all and then I saw Dayan so I ran but he was to fast so I pulled the fire alarm hoping that the school might come out and they would have to leave me, but they got me, and put something in my neck" she turned her head so they could se the large red mark on the neck "I don't remember anything after that, I just remember waking up and seeing dad on the floor, I thought he was dead" Tony squeezed her hand gently "takes more than that to get rid of me ninja" he said softly.

They all sat up, the hard floor now hurting them, Tony stood up and began to move around the little room searching desperately for a way out, he even threw himself at the door a few times, Ziva watched him sadly, he was so desperate to get Tali out now that he knew how little time she had left, Tali seemed to sense the urgency because when he finally sat down she hugged him tightly "it's ok daddy" she whispered "I know its coming soon you don't have to pretend for me" Tony hugged her back squeezing her tightly, tears trickling down his cheeks in frustration that there was nothing he could do to help her. Ziva felt tears trickle down her own cheeks and moved forward to join in this family hug, where they stayed until, once again they were ripped apart.

XOXOXOXO

They didn't know how much time passed, it was impossible to tell without a window telling them if it was night of day, apart from the steady drip drip of water it was silent, Tony thought he probably would have gone mad if he was alone in this room, he was amazed that Tali had been locked in a room similar to this and had been left all alone for days and had managed to remain sane, she really was remarkably.

Suddenly they heard footsteps and the sound of a key in the lock, instantly Tony and Ziva pushed Tali behind them blocking her from view as three big burly men entered, they walked straight over and grabbed at Tali, "no" Tony snarled "leave her" he and Ziva both fought but they were forced back and didn't dare attack once they had Tali, the little girl struggled desperately but they pressed a knife once again to her throat and she stopped, they began to drag her towards the door, she looked at her parents and mouthed "I love you" tears in her eyes, one of the men smiled at the parents, "remember" he said meanly "all that happens to her is your fault Ziva" and then laughing cruelly, they pulled the girl out of sight and slammed the door shut.

Tony and Ziva both threw themselves desperately at the door over and over again screaming their daughters name, it soon became apparent that it was pointless, and Ziva collapsed into Tony's arms sobbing fresh tears for Tali, it wasn't long before a agonised drawn out scream echoed throughout the building, the scream of their daughter and she was once again tortured, but this time there was no need to keep her alive, they wouldn't care if they killed her doing this.

More screams filled the air, and this time they sounded even more pained than the last ones, Tali's screams seemed to go right through them, and they listened in horror to her pain.

XOXOXOXO

Gibbs sat at his desk glaring at his computer as if it was to blame for his two missing agents and their 12 year old child, McGee was typing furiously at his desk, working hard enough to take the place of Tony and Ziva, but it wasn't the same, not having Tony and Ziva bickering at each other, or Tony pulling pranks on McGee or, Ziva teasing Tony making him swoon over her, or having Tali sitting on the end of his desk or at either of her parents desk, her usual happy look on her face.

He looked at the picture of his team on his desk, Abby had given it to him, he had a copy at his house in his basement but he saw this one more, he looked at it, they were all grinning at the camera, Tali in Tony's arms who had one arm wrapped around Ziva, who was leaning against him a look of pure happiness on her eyes. He stared at Tali, her eyes amused, filled with light, cheek, joy and honesty. There was also trust, trust that her family would keep her safe.

"McGee" he snapped and the young field agent looked at him "I have nothing boss, I have gone over every inch of the computer hard drive that we removed but I cannot find anything about where they might be now, I don't know where else to look, I'm sorry" Gibbs sighed "it's not your fault McGee good work" "I wish" he muttered before renewing his frenzied typing, combing over every inch of the hard drive desperate to find anything that might help him find his team mates.

Gibbs put his head in his hands, he was exhausted, they hadn't left last night, none of them had, working all night to find the family, it was now late afternoon and phone call after phone call, meeting after meeting with Vance had left him desperate for answers and sleep.

He jumped as his phone rang and answered it instantly:

"_Gibbs"_

"**Uncle Gibbs" **a small voice whispered and he jumped up miming to McGee to trace it.

"_Tali"_ he asked incredulously _"are you ok sweetie, where are you, are your parents ok"_

There was a sob **"no, they hurt mom real bad, she's ok, they haven't hurt dad yet" **

"_What about you" _Gibbs asked frantically

There was silence on the other end and then a voice replied **"she is unharmed for now but that is going to change in the next few minutes"**

Gibbs saw Vance come sprinting down the stairs, McGee had obviously called him, he put his phone on speaker as his boss came in _"Dayan"_ he said coolly

"**Well done agent Gibbs, Tali is right you are a good detective**"

"_cut the crap Dayan what do you want"_

Dayan laughed "**it was too easy picking up sweet Tali and her family so I thought I might at least give you a chance to save them, as I am nearly 100% certain that you won't, do you accept my challenge agent Gibbs"**

Gibbs looked at his boss who nodded _"I accept" _he said curtly

"**good, why don't we talk via a video conference, face to face, man to man" **

"_fine" _Gibbs said, and Dayan hung up, Vance stepped sideways as he hurtled up the stairs towards MTAC, McGee and Vance trailing behind, he shooed all the conference controllers out and grabbed some headphones with a mic as McGee leapt into a seat pulling his own headphones along with Vance who stepped into the shadows out of sight.

A conference call came up and McGee accepted it and Dayan's face filled the screen, he waved at Gibbs who glared back at him coldly, "_I want to see them all"_ he said firmly, Dayan groaned and nodded off the side of the camera and an image from another camera filled the screen, it showed a dark, damp room made of stone with an iron door, lying against one wall was Tony who was cradling Ziva in his arms as she sobbed, Tony looked fine, scared and worried, with a few bruises but otherwise unharmed, Gibbs wished the same could be said for Ziva, she looked like she had been beaten mercilessly, covered in cuts bruises and scratches, she lay in Tony's arms crying through swollen eyes, it broke his heart to see them so miserable.

Dayan's face returned to the screen **"satisfied"** he asked sarcastically _"what about Tali" _Gibbs growled, Dayan rolled his eyes and beckoned to the side of the camera, two men came in dragging a freshly beaten Tali, she fought bucking and struggling but they punched her in the gut, causing her to cry out and it wasn't hard for them to force her to her knees where she remained sobbing, she looked at the camera, pain in her beautiful golden eyes as she stared at him, holding him in place, her wrists were bound behind her and there were men pointing guns at her, preventing her further from doing anything.

"_why is she there" _Gibbs asked, as Dayan walked into view, he was carrying a long whip made of leather with a forked end, that end would cause a lot of pain Gibbs knew, Dayan whacked the handle against Tali's back causing her to wince and bit her lip. **"well I enjoyed her mother yesterday so I thought today I would hurt her, as it causes Ziva pain too" **he whacked Tali again harder and she couldn't hold back a small gasp, she still had burns on her back, and whipping burns would be almost unbearable.

"_she is just a child, and you are going to use a whip on her" _Gibbs said angrily **"yep"** Dayan said as though it was obvious **"one thing I have learnt over the years Agent Gibbs is that you can never be soft, being soft like falling in love as this ones mother did" **once again he whacked the child bent over at his feet and she let out a small sob **"makes you weak, and being weak is what will get you caught, that was why it was so easy to catch Ziva, she was too soft, she fell in love and got knocked up and now wont hurt a fly if it is in the same post code as miss Talia here"**

"**now I am not going to help you agent Gibbs that makes it less exciting, but I will tell you that I am in America, more precisely near Washington" **_"helpful"_ Gibbs said dryly making Dayan laugh **"happy hunting agent Gibbs, better hurry, the clock is ticking, I will check in again tomorrow about the same time, I should warn you though" **he grabbed hold of Tali's hair yanking her head back **"this one is going to die first and I would say she has very little time left" **he smiled and then walked backwards putting space between him and Tali who stared at Gibbs her eyes pleading _"its going to be ok"_ he murmured staring at her _"we will find you Tali I promise" _Tali looked at him and then nodded, there was a crack which caused her to jump as Dayan took a few practise swings before stepping forward.

In the corner of the screen the image of Tony and Ziva appeared again, they were still in the same position, but then Dayan swung the whip high in the air and brought it down as hard as he could with a sharp snap, across Tali's back.

Tali screamed, arcing her back against the pain, she then bent forward, sobbing, she had barely got her breath back when the whip came down again and again, leaving no time between the strikes, so her screams continued, louder and louder, she fell forward onto her side crying hard now, begging in Hebrew to Dayan who laughed before striking her again and again, a savage snarl on his face, Gibbs looked at the smaller image Tony and Ziva were both throwing themselves at the door, both crying in desperation to get to their little girl, but they were unable too. It tore him apart to see their pain.

Dayan stopped, breathing hard, he kicked Tali and she jerked away, he back came into view and Gibbs could see that it had been almost completely laid open blood pooling out of the slashes, her eyes were no clouded with pain and she continued to sob, Dayan poured something into the slashes, it looked like lemon juice or something similar, Tali screamed again fighting, her cries breaking Gibbs' heart. Tony and Ziva had collapsed again Tony trying to comfort Ziva whilst trying to keep himself together.

"**the clock is ticking Gibbs, so I would get a move on" **Dayan said with a smile, **"speak to you tomorrow" **and with that the line went dead. Gibbs yanked of his headphones swearing loudly, Vance looked repulsed and McGee looked rather green "I am going to make catching this psycho our top priority" Vance said "he has to be stopped before he kills any of them, you are in charge Gibbs as long as you promise to try and bring him in rather than just shooting him on the spot" "I might have to get in line" Gibbs said grimly.

They went downstairs and Vance announced that catching Dayan was now the top priority, for those who looked sceptical about a kidnapper being top priority over serial killers, Vance showed them the video of Tali's torture, and that had everyone agreeing with him "and besides he is going to kill them all so I think we can count him as a serial killer, rescuing Agent Tony DiNozzo, Agent Ziva David DiNozzo and their 12" he empathised Tali's age "year old daughter Talia DiNozzo, is going to come first unless cleared by me, Special Agent Gibbs is going to lead this investigation, I expect you all to give him your full cooperation" he looked at them all before turning and walking to his office to let the FBI know about this, and how important it was to find them.

Gibbs gave each bullpen a specific job and sent them on their way, he then looked at the image of Tali on the screen, pure pain written across her face, he switched it off and went to work. It wasn't long before Tony, Ziva and Tali's faces were all over the news, Gibbs looked at the picture they were using, one taken not that long ago when they had taken a few days off to spend with Tali and had taken her to New York for the weekend for her birthday. He looked at the caption underneath asking for anyone with information to call NCIS, he doubted they would get anything from that, Dayan wouldn't have them anywhere near civilisation he knew that. C'mon Tony, he thought, you are the one who has to stay strong here, you have to keep then strong and positive, that was ironic he thought the physically weakest person in that family was now the one having to be the strongest.

He sent out a silent desperate prayer for their safety, he just wanted things to return to normal, so Tali could grow up and live the life she deserved, she had survived longer than Kelly, she couldn't die now, please stay strong Tali he begged silently, if Tali didn't make it but her parents did then you might as well say goodbye to Tony and Ziva too, they had such a strong bond, break it and the whole structure would collapse and die.

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**Mysticgirl101**


	16. Chapter 16 Hope

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**Well hope you like it…**

Chapter 16

Time passed, but it didn't feel like it did, stuck in their little damp room, locked away, unable to get to their daughter, but forced to listen to her pain, Every time she screamed her parents felt their hearts break into smaller pieces. Ziva buried her head into Tony's shoulder, crying her eyes out, Tony was as well, and his tears dampening Ziva's hair as he pressed his face into the top of her head, her tears were mixing with all the blood and grime on her face leaving streaks as the poured down her cheeks, Tony rocked his wife from side to side trying desperately to reassure her, but he couldn't not when he couldn't reassure himself.

Eventually Tali's screams stopped after what felt like hours, Tony waited; he waited for them to bring Tali back to them, praying that they did. Dayan entered, followed by two of his guards who dragged their child between them, they threw her to the ground but when Ziva moved towards her they blocked her path.

Ziva felt Tony catch hold of her as she made to throw herself at the guards, furious that they were preventing her from comforting her daughter, she looked at her, sometime during the torture she had obviously passed out for she was not moving and her eyes were closed, Dayan smiled and then dragged her limp form round so that they could see her back. Ziva heard Tony let out a horrified gasp, she felt the same, she was trembling with rage now and fear, what if Tali was not unconscious, but actually dead, her wounds were very severe she could see.

Her back had been sliced open over and over again, blood was spilling out, without being stopped, and there was no skin without any wounds on. Ziva looked at the tiny girl in front of her; she looked smaller and younger than ever, now, in pain and on the brink of death. She looked at Dayan again unable to prevent the tears that streamed down her face, which was what he wanted to see, her pain. He was right, she could block out any pain that they inflicted on her but she couldn't, wouldn't block out her daughters pain and suffering. "hurting yet Ziva" Dayan asked quietly, Ziva glared at him, "go to hell" she hissed, but he just smiled "come" he said to his companions "let them say their goodbyes, because the day after tomorrow the child is going to receive a bullet through her scull" he laughed and left carefully making sure he kicked dirt into Tali's bloody back, they left locking the door carefully behind them.

The moment they had left both Tony and Ziva rushed over and carefully carried Tali to the back of the room, "oh Tali" Ziva whispered stroking her daughters face "I am so so sorry tateleh, I am so sorry, this is my fault, don't tell me it is not Tony" she said as her husband opened his mouth "I know it is, don't try and make my think otherwise" Tony looked at her before reaching up and stroking her cheek "she doesn't blame you Zee" he said softly "and neither do I, don't ever forget that, no matter what happens to us, we will never blame you, we love you" Ziva stared at him more tears dribbling down her cheeks "don't blame yourself Zee" Tony begged pulling her into his arms briefly "please Zee don't it hurts us to see you blame yourself"

"but she is going to die because of what I did in the past" Ziva sobbed "no Zee because of what Dayan's father did in the past, not because of you, he is the one who started all this bloodshed" he brushed tears out of her eyes and held her as she pulled herself back together, they then looked back at their daughter lying in Ziva's arms, Tony brushed hair gently off of her face, praying that she would be ok, but he was terrified that she had been injured to badly and that she would never wake up again, he supposed that it would be more peaceful, everything just ending, rather than staring at the barrel of a gun waiting for it to go off and your life to end.

But if she died now they would never get to say goodbye to her properly, never tell her one last time how much he loved her, and that she was perfect. He wanted to say goodbye, make sure she knew how loved she was. He regretted that he had not told his baby girl that he loved her every day, every hour, every minute that he was with her. And now they were out of time.

XOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs sat glaring at the agents that scurried around, since the call yesterday he had had not slept and neither had most of the agency who was looking for Tony and his family, he knew time was running out, especially for Tali, the little girl had a matter of days left.

He threw his coffee down in frustration before standing up "McGee" he said "MTAC now, for the next call" his only remaining agent leapt to his feet and followed him up the stairs, Vance was already waiting for them the room already clear of the MTAC controllers. They kitted up, suddenly the door opened and two men walked in "who are you" Gibbs asked angrily but Vance stepped in "they are kidnap and ransom specialists, they have a right to be here Gibbs, don't worry they will just observe and if need be advise" Gibbs glared at them and then at his boss who gave him a pointed look, so grumbling under his breath about how they knew nothing about getting his agents back, he turned fiddling with the controller on the side of his headphones making sure it was on and working.

After that there was nothing to distract him or his team, he paced back and forth wishing he had a coffee to calm his nerves, McGee sat typing furiously and then cleaned his keyboard mindlessly. Vance stood tapping his foot, everyone was nervous, and they all knew it but were not willing to show it.

Finally the computer bleeped and McGee after glancing at Vance who nodded before stepping out of sight with the kidnap and ransom guys. Gibbs turned to see Dayan smiling at him on the big screen and fresh anger at the man reared up inside him like a snake ready to strike.

"**Hello agent Gibbs, how is your search going" **Dayan asked, he looked very pleased with himself

"_I want to see them now, show them all to me and I swear if you lay one more finger on that little girl, I will never stop hunting you down and I will make sure you die a very slow painful death" _Gibbs said, and his companions could hear the venom in his voice and knew he meant it.

Dayan however did not seem to believe him **"well as you want seem to find your agents and their little girl, I don't think I will have to run very far"**

"_Show them to me now"_ Gibbs said quietly struggling to keep his anger under control.

An image similar to yesterdays one flashed up in the corner of the screen, but it was different, Tali was now lying with them, eyes closed and unmoving, she lay in Tony's arms, he was cradling them both, Ziva was leaning on him, gripping her daughter's limp hand as though it was the only thing keeping the small girl alive. Tony was gazing at Tali, pain written all over his face, the hand wrapped around Ziva was stroking her head, as though trying to convince her she would be fine, they both clung to each other and their daughter the way a drowning man would cling to a life jacket.

"_I want to talk to them, so I know that is not just a video" _Gibbs said, Vance and the experts nodded approvingly but he ignored them. Dayan looked at him for a long minute **"why so you can give them false hope that they will be rescued and their daughter will live" **

"_I don't give false hope Mr Dayan I tell the truth" _

Dayan smirked **"well this might be rather amusing to say the least alright, but not now, in 3 hours meet me back here, and maybe the girl will be awake by then and you can give her your false hope" **

Gibbs glared at him but out of the corner of his eye he saw Vance nodding vigorously so he accepted, **"have fun hunting Gibbs and remember the child dies at noon tomorrow so I would hurry if I were you" **and with that the conference ended.

Gibbs stormed out of the room shouting for McGee to follow him ignoring Vance shouting at him to come back. He and McGee went down to Abby's lab, the Goth was determined to do her part in the rescue of the DiNozzo family and she was working furiously, her bin was overflowing with Caff-Pows and there were at least 3 more cups on her desk, she was drinking them non stop and was very hyped up, adding to the stress this did make her rather unpredictable, she was working her machines to death, as soon as one sample finished another one was started. He hadn't been to visit her since the whole thing began both of them had been to busy.

"hey Abs" he said as he entered and the caffeinated scientist swung round "Gibbs" she shrieked and launched herself at him "oh my god have you found them, are they ok, are they hurt, have you got Dayan, have you killed him, please say you killed him"

"Abby" Gibbs said quietly "we haven't found them yet" the scientist seemed to shrink when she heard that and instantly became more moody "but Gibbs, Dayan said Tali only has until tomorrow, McGee told me yesterday when he brought me some evidence, you have to find her Gibbs, she is so young we have already lost her once, we cant loose her again" Gibbs looked at her sadly "we are doing our best Abby I promise you, but we need you to tell us what you have for us"

She instantly snapped back into action "right of course" she turned and walked over to her computer where the video of Tali's kidnap was being shown, "I used this to get the face and licence plate of the man and car that took Tali, I am running them now, but nothing yet" she moved over to the table where evidence was lying all over the place "I used the photos and moulds to limit the search for the car, and I now know it is a van that took her, but the tyres are used for pretty much every type of van so they were not that much help after that, next I looked at Tony and Ziva's stuff" she took a moment before talking "they didn't fire their weapons so they were not over powered, I also ran the blood on Tali's knife and it came back as her own" she took a shaky breath before continuing again

"so my guess is that they had Tali and threatened her to get Tony and Ziva to come quietly" Gibbs picked up the bagged knife "they would never risk Tali's life" he said softly "so you got nothing Abs" the young scientist looked at him sadly "they were very professional Gibbs I am sorry, I am running the video that you have of them hurting Tali" she almost growled those last two words "I will see it there is anything we can get from that, but," she said with a grin "you know that second set of tyre tracks, I might get something from those" both Gibbs and McGee didn't say anything they just stared at her "why didn't you tell us that at the beginning Abby" McGee asked exasperated

"oh you know me Timmy I like to build up to these things, and besides I don't think it is going to be much help, it is from a Jaguar and I know there are a few in DC but this one is very new model so I am going to find out as mush as I can about it to see if it could have anything useful and I have already asked for a list of everyone ho has bought one, but they are being very slow at sending me the lists, maybe if we are lucky it's Dayan's and we can track it" Gibbs walked over to her and kissed her cheek "thanks Abs, you might just be the one to save them" Abby grinned a huge grin and took a huge gulp of the Caff-Pow Gibbs presented her from behind his back.

"did you mean that boss" McGee asked as they left her working furiously again "there is a possibility McGee, if she manages to link that tyre track to Dayan's car we can trace it and you heard me with Dayan, I don't give false hope" McGee, seriously hoped he was right.

XOXOXOXOXO

Tony awake when he felt movement in his arms, he opened his eyes expecting to see Ziva moving but she was still asleep, he looked over and to his relief saw that Tali had her eyes open, they were moving around, searching for anymore danger, they came to a rest on his face and slowly she mouthed "hey" Tony stroked her head and whispered "hey" back, he nudged Ziva and she woke with a start but relaxed when she saw her daughter's eyes open "oh Tali" she whispered kissing her, slowly they sat up but left Tali on the ground, Tony had spread his jacket underneath her to prevent any more dirt getting in her back and she shifted on it and then gasped, "shh lie still tateleh" Ziva whispered "ow" she sobbed and Tony stroked her head angry that there was nothing he could do for her.

"How long have I been out" she gasped through the pain, "a while" Tony whispered "that was the worst hour of my life" she sobbed "he whipped my back open over and over again and then he poured something into the cuts and that hurt, it felt like getting lemon juice or something in an open cut, I don't remember much after that, Uncle Gibbs looked so mad"

"what" both Tony and Ziva said together "what about Gibbs" Tali looked at them with pain filled eyes "he made me call him, he said he would hurt you both if I didn't so I had to call him, he got him to arrange a meeting like he did with you, he challenged him, he challenged him to find us before tomorrow, Gibbs accepted and then he beat me in front of Gibbs I have never seen him look so mad" Tony and Ziva looked at each other, they didn't want to have any false hope but if Gibbs was looking for them and he had been challenged and had seen the video of the room he hurt them in, he might just might be able to find them. They didn't say anything to Tali, as the hugged her and comforted her as best they could. They didn't want to raise their hopes to have them crushed but they had that tiny inkling of hope inside of them that maybe, just maybe Gibbs would help them save their daughter.

**Hope you liked it, don't know if Gibbs is going to find them in time or not, I have an idea for what is to happen but if you have any suggestions let me know, I am open to any and all.**

**PLEASE review, I promise I will update faster if you do**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	17. Chapter 17 Team

**Hi thanks for the reviews I will update sooner if I get a lot more of them quickly, probably only going to be a couple more chapters now, then I will start the sequel, but have to finish my other stories as well, my bones sequel kind of got abandoned cus I got so into this story and my Castle story. So I might have to update that one first – will keep you all posted**

**Hope you like it**

Chapter 17 –

Tony watched his family, Ziva had exhausted finally fallen asleep her head resting on her lap, as was Tali's, his daughter hadn't fallen asleep yet, she kept shifting on his jacket making little hissing noises of pain, Ziva was holding her hand and she obviously didn't want to wake her mother so she tried not to move around to much.

Tony watched her as she whimpered as she tried to haul herself up into a more comfortable position; he very carefully put his hands under her arms and helped her lift herself, she pulled herself with his help, carefully avoiding waking her mother onto his lap once again "you should sleep" he told her gently "conserve your energy for tomorrow" she shook her head weakly "I can't" she said "my back hurts to bad" he looked at her back laid open by long slices, he looked at the worst one, it stretched from her left shoulder to her right hip, slicing her back clean open, all along it there were smaller cuts, that just stretched from one side of her back to the other, they were red and shiny, blood still dribbling out of them, he could almost see the layer of muscle beneath that had also been cut open.

He rubbed her shoulder, not wanting to touch her back, she closed her eyes and leaned against him wearily "I am sorry Tali" he whispered, she opened her eyes to stare at him confused before closing them, to exhausted "why" she asked "you tell mom not to be sorry and that this is not her fault, why is it you fault, I don't think either of you is to blame", he kissed the top of her head "I am sorry because as your father I am meant to protect you from danger like this and now you and I and your mother are in danger and there is nothing I can do to protect you" he sighed "well I never thought this would be how I would die" Tali snuggled into him "how did you think it would end" she asked, he had to think about that.

"Well I thought maybe of old age, but I thought I would be alone I never thought I would be lucky enough to have a wife and a beautiful daughter, or I would go out fighting, I used to imagine myself dying protecting the president of the United States or something like that or dying saving hundreds of people, I would die a hero or something" he smiled at her "now I see myself dying to save you and your mother, but I know I cant and it kills me Tali, I want you to get out of here so bad, you are to young to die" Tali remained quiet for a minute, before saying "wasn't that a movie, 'never to young to die" Tony laughed "yeah it was 1986, not a bad film actually ninja, I think we have just proved you are definitely mine" Tali gave a small giggle "and daddy" "mmm"

"You will always be my hero"

Tony felt tears in his eyes when she said that, he lifted one hand to try and wipe them away and hide how much that actually meant to him, hearing his daughter tell him that he was her hero. He hugged her tightly, but gently, praying for some sort of miracle to get them out of here.

XOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs was in MTAC 45 minutes early with McGee, Vance arrived with 15 minutes to spare and didn't seem surprised to find them here already, his Kidnap and Ransom specialists followed him in and they took seats out of sight after grabbing a set of headphones each, Vance walked over to Gibbs and looked at him, "I know how you must feel Gibbs but if you don't rescue them, don't beat yourself up about it ok, it is still a very slim chance that we will get them back ok" Gibbs looked at him "they will survive" he said but everyone could see that he was worried that they wouldn't, if one died then the strong bond of the family wound be broken and the structure would collapse, even if they get Tony and Ziva back, they would not have the original family back, Ziva would never get over seeing her daughter be murdered and being told that to was her fault, she would turn away from Tony in an effort of protecting anything from happening to him. And Tony would be heartbroken, he would be so crushed over losing Tali, and if Ziva left to protect him he wouldn't be able to survive, he loved Ziva to much anyone could see that.

If he didn't get the whole family back then he would loose them all anyway. He had to get to them before tomorrow when Tali would be killed, he was pretty certain that Dayan was telling the truth when he said that Tali would die and he had already proved that he had no problem hurting children so why would he have a problem killing them.

He was pulled back into reality by the sound of a conference coming in; he nodded to McGee who accepted it and Dayan appeared on the large screen in front of them;

"**Hello Agent Gibbs how is your search going"**

"_Cut the crap I want to talk to them"_ Gibbs said angrily and Dayan smiled

"**Very well, as promised" **he turned and left the room, and the image of the DiNozzos appeared filling the whole screen. Ziva was curled up awake next to Tony who had Tali on his lap, Gibbs could now see her back and it shocked him how anyone could be so cold hearted to a child, she was covered in blood and she would obviously be in an awful lot of pain, Tony seemed to be trying to reassure her, her eyes were closed, suddenly all of their heads snapped up and audio kicked in as the door opened. Dayan entered and Gibbs saw Tony push Tali behind him and Ziva **"shalom my friends"** Dayan said **"don't worry I am not here to hurt you today, as a matter of face I am here because of your friend Gibbs"**

Gibbs saw the confusion on their faces and then he heard Dayan say **"Gibbs if you are going to talk to them why don't you start" **he then left the room locking it behind him

Gibbs looked at his boos who nodded again and then he called out _"DiNozzos can you hear me" _

"**Boss"** Tony asked incredulously _"yeah Tony it's me are you ok"_

"**I am fine boss but you have to find us soon, he is going to kill Tali tomorrow, you have to stop him"**

Gibbs felt his heart break, Tony was almost begging him to save his daughter, he didn't care about himself he just wanted his daughter to be safe,

"_We have the entire agency looking for you Tony don't worry,"_

He looked at Ziva lying in Tony's arms _"are you ok Ziver" _he asked **"I am fine Gibbs do not worry about me just find Tali please" **she begged

Finally he looked at Tali, she already looked like she was on deaths door, she was breathing heavily and her eyes were half closed _"Tali"_ he said softly and she opened her eyes to look around _"how are you feeling sweetheart" _she closed her eyes before responding **"this is a bit of Déjà vu" **she said and he remembered asking her that very same question in the hospital she smiled weakly and then gave the same response **"Ok my back hurts like hell"** he smiled back and said _"I know but it will get better" _she opened her eyes and looked around **"how can you say that, there is no time for it to get better" **_"hey don't give up hope Rule 8 kiddo" _**"never take anything for granted" **Tali recited. With a smile Gibbs nodded and then remembered that they couldn't see him _"yeah so just because everything looks real bad, doesn't mean it is going to end up bad remember that sweetheart"_

He was relieved to see the child smile then, not a weak little ok, I am just going to agree with you smile, a proper I actually believe it smile, _"don't let things get you down, that goes for all of you, never ever give up hope I might make that rule 50 something, what am I on now" _he asked, Tali's grin widened **"I think it is 52 uncle Gibbs" **he smiled _"good girl at least I know that someone track of them all"_

They head the sound of the door opening "_Hey" _Gibbs said "_DiNozzos" _they all looked around for where his voice was coming from **"yes boss" **_"don't forget Rule 15" _he said, it was Ziva who whispered the answer to that rule **"always work as a team" **then Dayan entered and turned to smile at the camera and his team all looked up and saw it, Gibbs could see Ziva staring at him with pleading eyes begging him to come and find her Tali.

"**Satisfied now Agent Gibbs"** Dayan asked and Gibbs responded angrily _"I won't be satisfied until you are lying dead on a slab down in autopsy and they are __all__ safe in the bullpen" _**"then Agent Gibbs I am afraid to say that you will never be satisfied**" he waved at the camera **"say goodbye everyone, especially you miss Talia because you will never hear from your uncle again I am afraid"** he called.

Gibbs took one last look at his team the way they were, together and bonded and at Tali, the child he had grown so attached to, and like Kelly he was going to loose, she was still in her fathers arms, gazing at the camera that they had only just recently noticed and once again her beautiful golden eyes gaze held him in place, trapping him, making him feel terrible that he couldn't save her, her eyes seemed to have a power over him that she could not control. And then Dayan made the slashing motion and the connection was lost.

Gibbs staggered backwards into a chair and put his head in his hands groaning, he hoped that he hadn't just given them all false hope, he wanted so bad to get them all home safe, but now he had less than 24 hours to find them and they were no closer to finding them than they originally were, he looked over in time to see Vance leave MTAC and he followed to hear him shout at the agency "that family now has less then 24 hours, so you had better bring me something, of that child is going to die, and noon tomorrow" the agency began to run around in desperation all of them not frantic as they realised how little time that they now had. McGee came out holding a disk with the video of the last call on it "I'll go give this to Abby" he said, he sounded rather dazed as though he had just realised that he may have just seem his team mates and their little girl for the last time. "Stay with her and see if she needs any help" Gibbs called and then slowly made his way to his desk feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Dayan's men all moved forward and Tony and Ziva felt themselves getting grabbed and pulled backwards they fought but they could not escape, Tali was left on the ground, gasping in pain as the sudden movement of her being jerked off of her fathers lap, pained her back, Dayan bent towards her "are you afraid my darling" he asked with a small smile on his face, Tali didn't answer she just stayed where she was her head bent as she tried not to show her pain.

Dayan grabbed a handful of her hear and dragged her up ignoring her cries, Tony could see Tali's bare feet struggling to touch the floor as he lifter her to his level "answer me child" he snarled "are you afraid" Tali stared into his eyes before replying with as much venom as she could "I am not afraid to die"

A small smile appeared on Dayan's face and he threw her to the ground, "what if is wasn't quick" he said and there was almost excitement in his voice and he swung his leg back before planting it in Tali's side, Tali cried out curling up in agony "what if I started now, and I kept going until tomorrow at noon, it would be the most painful death ever" he raised his foot and then brought it down hard on Tali's ankle.

There was a loud crack and Tali screamed, Tony and Ziva both thrashed "no" Ziva screamed "please no stop please don't hurt her" but Dayan ignored her, he kicked her now broken ankle and Tali howled again tears trickling down her cheeks.

"but what if I wasn't hurting you, it works for your mother" he smiled and then pulled out a gun and pressed it against Tony's forehead, both Tali and Ziva cried out "no" and Tali dragged herself round her face white in pain. "please" she sobbed "no don't hurt him, Bevakasha" (please) he laughed loudly "you and your mother are very similar tateleh" "please" Tali sobbed "I beg of you" Dayan considered her for a minute and twisted the gun pressing it harder against Tony's scull, Tony didn't move, he barely breathed as he waited for his life to either end or be spared.

Dayan slowly put the gun away, he stared at Tali who looked at him tear streaks standing out on her dirty face, and then he turned and hit Tony so hard that his guards released him as he fell to the floor, he hit his head hard on the stone floor and remained down dazed, groaning, he heard Tali scream "no please" and through his heavy eyelids he saw her crouched on the floor, hands up pressing against her mouth fists clenched trembling, he could see Ziva too struggling tears pouring down her cheeks.

Tali cried out as Dayan struck her father, hard, she didn't want anything to happen to him, she loved him to much, "no please" she screamed as Dayan made to hurt him again, Dayan stopped and turned to face her "are you afraid yet tateleh" he asked and Tali nodded eyes soaked with tears "good" he said and he moved over to her and pulled her to her feet smiling when she was forced to put weight on her broken ankle and she cried out again, he laughed and then swung her round so her back could be seen, Tony appeared to be coming round now, because he moved to protect Tali and was grabbed by the guards once again, head still throbbing he looked at his daughters back.

Dayan took hold of her shoulder and leaned in towards her "believe me child I am going to enjoy tomorrow when I make you die a very long and very painful death" he dug his fingernails into the top of the long cut that went from shoulder to hip and Tali began to cry in earnest, she was so white with pain by now, it looked like she would collapse any second now.

Dayan threw her to the ground and then beckoned to his men and he left giving Tali's broken ankle another kick as he left. The moment he was gone Tony and Ziva crawled over to her, she was crying as Tony touched her shoulder, she looked round and then flung herself at him crying harder "hey hey it's ok ninja I'm fine" Tony whispered holding her tightly he looked at Ziva who suddenly fell on him to sobbing as well, "hey it's going to be ok" he breathed "we are going to get through this together, as a team"

But his team mates knew the truth and so did he, so he let them cry until they could cry no more and they stayed together, savouring the last few moments that they might have together in this life.

**Hope you like it, next time, judgement day, who will survive?**

**Let me know what you think and if I get around 70 reviews overall then I will do my uttermost best to have it up by Friday, - Sunday at the absolute latest because I know what I want to happen and I want to write this just right.**

**Well if anyone wants a specific story check out my profile and see if I know the programme or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give anything a go to be honest.**

**Also if you like Castle or Bones why not read my other stories, also if you like the Mentalist I am planning to write one for that, if you want to know what it will be about inbox me and I will give you a synopsis**

**Please review**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	18. Chapter 18 Mah'se

**Thanks for all the reviews I love hearing what you think, keep em coming please, with a cherry on top :D**

**Just want to give a shout out to all those who have regularly reviewed this story and I dedicate this chapter to them:**

**HSMSupernatural**

**iloveNCIStiva**

**hxchick**

**ForeignMusicLyrics**

**Tiva4eva95**

**Esmerelda Diana Parker**

**And all the others who I may have missed – sorry I can't get you all in otherwise it would be a whole chapter, maybe at the end I will do acknowledgements. **

**Anyway hope you like it. I spent so long writing thins, getting it just right it is unbelievable.**

Chapter 18 – mah'se (Protector)

The night went to quickly for their liking, they wanted it to last forever so they could stay together forever, Tony gripped his girls, the two people who meant more to him than life, he would give anything to save them. Anything. But he couldn't, he would now die for them, but he couldn't. He looked down at his 12 year old daughter, she was way to young to be a part of this and it just wasn't fair, she had escaped from Dayan all by herself only to be caught and tortured by him once again, why he thought desperately, why could she not have been excluded from this, she was just a child, she should be innocent to the horrors of this world. He loved her so much, her laugh, her optimism, her cheek, her personality, most of all he loved how much she was like her mother

He then looked at his wife, he had loved the past 20 or so years with her but whished he had confessed his love for her sooner, so maybe they could have been together for longer, he loved every part of her; her beauty, her strength, her laugh, her cute little mistakes that she still made after 20 years. She and Tali were so alike, they were his world.

Ziva looked at him sadly he knew what she was thinking, the day had come, for life as they knew it to end "Tali" she breathed hugging her child who hugged her back, she was in so much pain it might be kinder for her to die Tony thought, every movement she made caused her pain especially if it involved moving her ankle.

They waited for noon to arrive and when it did it felt like it came too soon, Dayan came in and smiled at the family who were pressed against the far wall huddled together, Tali turned her head and buried it into her fathers shoulder whilst hugging her mother tightly. There were a lot of guards today, obviously to prevent Tony and Ziva from doing anything, they were all grabbed and torn away from each other before they were hauled to the massive room, Tali and Ziva had been hurt in here and Tony could see the fresh blood on the walls, he and Ziva were dragged over to a wall where they were held tightly. Tali was taken to the middle of the room where she was thrown to the ground, she didn't move she just stayed where she was, shoulders heaving as she breathed hard.

Dayan walked towards her and as he had done the first time they had met he yanked her head back and allowed his evil fathomless black eyes to trace over her features, he smiled again and then kicked her so that she fell backwards, she didn't make a sound she seemed determined not to make a sound and show her pain in front of Dayan. He raised his eyebrows when no sound escaped her "don't try and hide your pain tateleh as your mother did, I can make things a lot worse for you" Tali didn't make a sound but she continued to breathe heavily. It would soon be time.

Another man stepped out of the shadows "ahh" Dayan said greeting his friend "you are just in time fore the main show my friend" he smiled "I wouldn't miss it for the world you know that Elead" Dayan chuckled and then turned "DiNozzos" he said "I would like to introduce you to my dear friend Levi Kedar, though I believe Talia here has already seen him before" he looked at Tali who nodded and Tony and Ziva recognised him from the surveillance video they had taken from the warehouse. He was the other man the one who had helped plant the bomb.

He smiled "I am glad that this obsession with killing Ziva David will finally come to an end" "soon my friend soon" Dayan murmured and he smiled at Tali as he walked towards her, and pulled out his gun he pressed it to her forehead and his smile grew, as he stared at her, she didn't move away instead she moved her head forward so the gun was pressed tightly against her forehead, as though she was daring him to end it now, to pull the trigger, her eyes fell on her parents and she gazed at them, as she waited to die.

XOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs paced back and forth in the bullpen, he looked at the timer on the plasma, he had a little under 3 hours left, he resumed his pacing thinking desperately "where have you taken them Dayan" he growled, he cursed and then stormed off to the elevator and went down to Abby's lab after grabbing some coffee for him and McGee and a Caff-Pow for Abby, he slipped in, the music was down low and Abby and McGee were sitting typing furiously, "have you got anything" he asked and they both jumped "Gibbs" Abby cried "we were just about to call you, we might have something" "what" he asked desperately "and give me the short version, we are nearly out of time" he handed them both their drinks which they drank gratefully

"ok" Abby began "so I finally managed to get the info on the latest Jaguar model with Timmy's help" Gibbs nodded knowing that McGee had been forced to hack in to get the info in time "did that help" he asked "well the good thing is that because of how new and expensive each car is, it is fitted with a tracking device, but we cant use it because you have to know a code to use it, and only the owner of the car knows the code" she paused for breath before continuing talking at light speed "but I got a list of everyone who has bought one of them" "has Dayan got one" Gibbs asked hopefully but was crushed when Abby shook her head "but" she said "I think I have tracked down who owns the car at the crime scene" Gibbs looked at her and then at McGee who was gazing at Abby proudly, he nodded grinning. Abby turned and hit a couple of keys on her keyboard and a picture came up.

"His name is Levi Kedar and he is from Israel, he grew up in the same town as Dayan, and" she pressed a button and a picture came up of Kedar and Dayan in an airport "this was taken 4 days ago" Abby said "right before Tony, Ziva and Tali were taken" Gibbs glared at the men on the screen, Abby began to type and then the best image they had from the security cameras from the warehouse of Dayan's accomplice came up "look familiar" she asked Gibbs nodded angrily "we have to track him using the car it is our best hope" Abby nodded, "McGee is trying every programme possible to hack in so we can use the GPS to find it"

Gibbs swung round to face McGee who began to talk hurriedly "no luck so far, I am running them as fast as possible and I have put a BOLO on it which did help" he nodded to Abby who showed him a speed camera photograph of the car "this was taken right after Tony and Ziva went missing just outside of Alexandria, it was last seen heading down Alexandria West"

Gibbs gave Abby his usual kiss on the cheek before saying "McGee bring all that in the car, we are heading to Alexandria now, Abby you did good, keep going and tell us if you find anything at all" Abby gave a small salute "yes sir" she said and then hurled herself at him hugging him tightly "bring them back Gibbs" she sobbed "I want them back" he hugged her tightly "we will go our best Abs" he promised not wanting to tell her how slim the chances of getting the whole family back now were.

He sent McGee down to get his car before heading to Vance's office and he told him what he had found, Vance instantly sat up hope in his eyes "I will alert the cops there and explain what has happened and when you know where they are tell me and I send the whole of NCIS if I have to and get some paramedics on standby, little Tali is definitely going to need medical attention" Gibbs nodded and then left sprinting out to his car, McGee was already settled and plugged in and had resumed his fast typing, his fingers moving so fast they were a blur.

He drove at his new fast speed, weaving in and out of cars ignoring the blaring of horns, they were in Alexandria and heading down Alexandria West before he slowed, he checked his watch, 1 hour of Tali's life remained. "come on McGee" he said looking at his agent who looked desperate knowing that his team mates lives were in his hands.

"yes" he suddenly shouted "I am in," he typed and then said "he is outside a warehouse district, not parked inside though" "clever" Gibbs muttered as a conference from Abby came though "Abs" he shouted "we know roughly where they are, they are in a warehouse district but we don't know which one, look at the conferences and see if there is any clue there" "on it" she cried and Gibbs called Vance and told him roughly where they were, the warehouse district was huge, it would take days to hunt through them all. Vance told him he was sending back up and a couple of ambulances "you have done good Gibbs" he said and then he hung up.

"got something I think" Abby shouted and an image of Tali's torture flashed up, Abby highlighted an area of the wall behind the child in pain and it showed some faded paint, she filled in a few areas, deepened the colours to show a logo "Global Foods" she shouted and McGee looked at a list of companies in the warehouse district "they left some time ago" he said "the warehouse is still empty, it is perfect" "good job Abs" Gibbs shouted "tell Vance the address" then the conference was ended.

He drove into the district at top speed flashing his badge at the guards at the front gate when they tried to stop him. He stopped out of sight of the ware house and he and McGee both climbed out, he went to his boot and pulled out two bullet proof vests handing one to McGee, he picked up some spare magazines filled with ammo and pocketed them, as McGee did the same he picked up what looked like a security camera and pointed it at the building. An infra red image appeared showing that there was indeed life in the supposedly abandoned building. It wasn't clear enough to see what was happening yet. But he could see that one of the figures was kneeling on the floor as people moved around her. He looked at his watch, 10 minutes till noon.

"come on" he said "what about back up" McGee stammered "they wont get here in time, Tali has 10 minutes left, even if they do get here in 10 minutes it will take them to long to get ready and kit up, we have to do it, come on Elf-Lord it will be just like your games on your game box thingy" "X-Box" McGee corrected, Gibbs scrawled a note saying that they had already gone in and stuck it to the bonnet of his car. Then he and McGee crept forward, standing on either side of the door, like when they were hunting for the bomb they were painfully aware of the lack of time, but this time, there was no Tony and Ziva with them, to have their sixes, and there was no Tali to save them if need be, now they would be saving her and they could have Tony and Ziva's sixes.

Gibbs looked down and watched in horror as the big hand on his watch struck the 12, marking the hour.

Suddenly a shot rang out echoing through the silent grounds, it was followed by a scream.

XOXOXOXO

Dayan stood there looking at the girl who knelt before him, her head pressed against the barrel of his gun; it excited him to think that he controlled her life now. He looked at his watch "5 minute" he chortled, he looked over his shoulder. Ziva and Tony were fighting struggling against their captors; Ziva had tears rolling down her cheeks. He smiled at her pain before turning back to her daughter; she was staring at her mother, tears in her eyes now too. He looked at Kedar who smiled from where he was sitting, and they both prepared themselves to watch the girls life come to an end.

Ziva fought tears streaming down her cheeks, no she couldn't watch Tali die, she couldn't. Tali looked at her, her own cheeks wet, then she looked at Dayan and then at his gun and then back at her mom, before her eyes went back to the gun and Ziva saw her hands on her lap clench.

Dayan looked at his watch again "five, four three two one" he counted down the seconds and then smiled taking the safety off of his gun, "goodbye tateleh" he said. Tali closed her eyes, Dayan's finger tensed in the trigger.

At once Tali moved she leaned to one side and her leg shot out from underneath her slamming into Dayan's knocking him to the floor, the gun went off and Ziva screamed in terror, as Tali fell to the floor, she lay unmoving. Dayan rolled over laughing at her scream "yes Ziva show me your pain now you child is dead" Ziva stared at the motionless figure of her daughter and then back at Dayan, it felt as though a whole had been punched through her chest, Dayan laughed again and then made to stand up, Tali lunged at him taking everyone by surprise, they fell to the floor and Dayan struggled to point the gun at her as she grabbed the barrel fighting it desperately, the guards didn't know what to do, and Ziva used their confusion to throw her head back into one of the ones holding her and as he loosened his hold on her, she yanked her arm out of his grip and hit him as hard as she could, she tackled the other one, but he grabbed hold of her other arm, fighting to keep her under control, she swung her legs up instead to kick one of the men holding Tony hard in the face, instantly Tony tackled his other guard throwing him towards Ziva so she could knock him out, then he ran at her punching the man who held her "let go of her" he snarled pulling Ziva free.

They both turned back to Tali who was fighting still, her face determined but desperate as she struggled with the gun, Dayan's finger tightened again on the trigger but Tali forced the barrel away from her. She managed to yank the gun out of his grip but before she could do anything he struck her arm and the gun flew off into the corner of the room, his hands went around her throat and Tali gasped as he began to tighten his grip, she struggled gasping, before noticing something sticking out of his belt, she grabbed it.

Ziva was fighting to get to Tali but the guards were making it very difficult, she could see Tali struggling as Dayan wrapped his hands around her throat, as he tightened his grip she grabbed something from his belt and then stabbed it into his back.

Dayan screamed in pain as Tali stabbed the knife into his back, he released her, to pull it out and she instantly began to scramble to her feet, Dayan pulled another gun out of his pocket once he had pulled the knife out and pointed it at the girl "Tali" Ziva screamed and Tali flung herself sideways rolling trying to avoid moving her broken ankle any more than necessary, just as the gun went off, it missed. She flung herself at a metal table knocking it over and she dived behind it, it protected her from Dayan's next shots. Tali crouched low behind the table hearing the gun go off and the bullets being deflected off of her makeshift shelter, "don't hide from me girlie" Dayan screamed "don't be a coward" "you are calling me a coward" Tali shouted "when you used me to get to my mom because you were scared that without leverage she would kill you" "don't you dare speak to me like that" he screamed "come out and face me or mommy and daddy get it".

There was silence, Tony and Ziva stood there, surrounded by guns hands half raised, they saw Tali poke her head up briefly to check he was telling the truth, "don't do it Tali" Ziva shouted and fell with a small gasp as one of the guards whacked her with his gun, Tony caught her snarling pulling her towards him and she heard Tali cry "no don't hurt them, I am coming" she scrambled out limping from behind the table, her hands likewise semi raised, Dayan was breathing hard as he pointed the gun at her, "oh I am so going to enjoy watching the life drain out of you" he snarled Tali didn't move though her eyes flicked around the room, when they flicked to a corner of the room they rested there for a fraction of a second longer before flicking back to her family, "say goodbye" Dayan snarled.

Tali launched towards him swinging her leg up to wind him before she dived towards the corner, on the ground Dayan grabbed her ankle twisting, she cried out, her fingers scrabbling to grab something, she kicked at him throwing herself a few more inches forward, Dayan grabbed his gun at the same time Tali rolled over the gun she had wrestled from him earlier in her hands, she loaded it and placed her finger on the trigger.

Nobody moved as she lay on her back, white with pain and trembling, the gun was shaking slightly in her hands, but she did look determined, Dayan froze briefly and then laughed, "now what are you going to do with that" he taunted "you don't know how to aim let alone fire" he was proved wrong when Tali shot at him, clipping his shoulder, he hissed in pain "well well miss Ziva, you have trained her well" "my uncle Gibbs taught me how to aim" Tali said, having reloaded the gun "let my family go" she said, her voice shook but she sounded fierce, Dayan laughed "or I could say put the gun down or both of them die" his men all took the safety off of their weapons and Tony tried to shield Ziva from as many guns as possible, searching for an escape.

"don't" Tali said and she sounded scared, he laughed and pointed the gun at her, "come now tateleh put the gun down, you are just a child a Yalda (female child) and what more you are a h'allash yalda (a weak female child)" "I am not weak" Tali gasped, Dayan smiled and clicked the safety off "I am tired of this, your death is long overdue and you aba will follow and then your ima" he laughed and repeated what he had said earlier "now say goodbye", the door burst open and Gibbs and McGee appeared weapons raised.

Gibbs looked around the room in horror, Tony trying to shield Ziva from the men surrounding them guns raised, waiting for the command, and Dayan standing there with a gin in his hand, finger on the trigger, pointing it at Tali.

It was Tali that shocked him the most she lay there white with pain, her ankle twisted in an awkward manner, she lay on her back a gun in her hand pointing it at Dayan.

Dayan swung round, caught sight of Gibbs and let out a scream of fury, before turning and swinging the gun to point at Tali's head, Tony and Ziva both screamed out "NO" and Ziva closed her eyes as a shot went off, there was silence and then "lower your weapons now" and pounding feet, she slowly opened her eyes to see NCIS agents running in to point their weapons at their captors who slowly backed away, Gibbs was kneeling on the floor his weapon on the floor beside him cradling Tali her head and shoulders in his arms, she was covered in blood, both she and Tony ran forward and then stopped, Dayan was lying on the floor, dead, a hole in the side of his head, Gibbs had shot him, Tali was clutching her uncles arm shivering as she stared at Dayan.

Suddenly there was a cry of "no, you killed him" and they all looked up, they had all forgotten about Kedar who had remained silent throughout the whole battle, now he stood staring at Dayan and then he stared at Gibbs before yanking out a gun. He had barely raised it, and his finger had barely tensed on the trigger when three shots were fired, two patches of red appeared on his crisp white expensive shirt and he staggered, struggling to aim the gun, he open fired and Tony threw Ziva sideways, he felt pain in his side as he protected her, then one loud bang and it went silent once more.

He looked up, Ziva was gripping her leg, and "I am fine" she gasped "through and through… Tony" she gasped looking at his side, and he looked down, to see his own blood staining his shirt, "I will live" he grunted "missed everything important" he looked up wondering who had shot Kedar who was now lying in a pool of his own blood, he had seen McGee fire the first two shots but had not seen the last one. He heard a gasp and he looked behind him, Gibbs was still crouching next to Tali assisting her to sit up, she was staring at Kedar her eyes wide with horror, the gun in her hand still pointing at him. He heard Ziva gasp and he stared at his daughter and then he and Ziva wiggled over to her, his daughter had killed a man, she was 12 and had already killed someone.

He breathing was getting faster in panic, slowly Gibbs put his hand on the gun lowering it, she looked down and then with another gasp she dropped it as if it had electrocuted her. Then she looked at her parents and then at her uncles as McGee came forward "I didn't want to" she almost begged "I didn't want him to hurt you, the gun was in my hand and I just… pulled the trigger, I didn't even aim" "hush" Gibbs whispered "don't worry sweetheart it was self defence ok darling don't worry" "I didn't want him to hurt anyone" she repeated, she looked over then and saw her parents, "aba and ima" she sobbed and then they pulled her into their arms, and they held each other.

They had survived the storm.

XOXOXOXOXO

Tony didn't know how long he stayed there gripping his girls, but then he felt a pain on the back of his head as his bosses hand collided with it "ow boss what was that for" he complained "for worrying me out of my dammed mind, and the rest of the agency, no one has slept in days" Tony winced rubbing his head "sorry to have caused so much hassle" he said "I will think about that the next time I am unwillingly kidnapped" everyone laughed "why don't they get smacks" he asked looking at Tali and Ziva "not that I want you to hit them" he added, Tali was still huddled in her mothers arms, who had turned her so she could not see the man she had killed. She looked shocked and dazed still. "because they are girls" Gibbs said "never stopped you before" Tony muttered earning himself another head slap. "so you were worried about me hay boss" he said grinning.

Gibbs looked at his cheeky agent, yes he had been worried about him, his adopted son, "nah" he said a small glint in his eyes "I was talking to my girls" Tony rolled his eyes "of course" he muttered and then mumbled something about them being his girls. Gibbs looked over his shoulder, the rescue team had arrested all the guards and McGee was supervising, "come on" he said standing "lets get out of here" Tony got to his feet an helped Ziva and Tali to theirs, they began to move out of the room Ziva leaning on Tony, Gibbs supporting Tali when suddenly she stopped, they all looked at her "what is wrong" Ziva asked concerned, thinking her daughter was scared about leaving because of what she had done.

But then she and her team looked down to see her hands placed on her chest where blood was streaming from. She staggered and Gibbs caught her, she had been hit during the open fire before she had protected them again, "Tali no" Ziva gasped, the 12 year old girl looked at them all confused, then she coughed and blood spurted out. "Tony" Gibbs shouted but Tony had already yanked off his shirt, glad that he wore a t shirt underneath and was pressing it against his daughters chest "please Tali" he begged "hang on, just hang on for a little bit longer" Gibbs scooped her up and Tony caught hold of Ziva supporting her with one hand pressing his already soaked shirt against Tali's wound, McGee went round to the other side of Ziva to support her and then in that rugged formation they began to run.

They burst out of the building where Gibbs laid the little girl on the floor, then he and McGee rushed off searching, screaming for an ambulance, Tony pushed harder against the wound "come on ninja, you can get through this, you are a ninja, come on look at how much you have been through and survived, doesn't it seem right to me, for you to be taken down like this" he looked at his wife who was stroking their daughters head whispering to her in Hebrew. "come on ninja, I love you don't go" she blinked, her eyelids began to droop, "No Tali," he shouted "look at me, don't you dare close your eyes" Tali's eyelids fluttered open and then she coughed blood again "Tali" Ziva sobbed "please Tali, I cant loose you, come on baby girl, you are a fighter, fight" Tali looked at her and then at Tony her lips mouthed the words "I love you" "look at me Tali" Tony begged again but slowly he felt her body begin to go limp "Tali" Ziva screamed sobbing "please don't you dare give up" she clutched her daughter, she could hear sirens approaching, "come on help is coming hang on"

Gibbs looked at them, horror and dread consuming him, Tony pressing the now red shirt into the dying child's chest ignoring the blood coming out of his own side, calling to her to stay with them, Ziva cradling Tali's head sobbing and screaming for her to stay with them, and Tali lying there in the dirt, the life they had saved now being drained trying to save them, he watched as the ambulance pulled up, Ziva begging her to not leave her, the brave little child, exhausted, allowed her eyes to slowly close.

**Hope you liked it, took me forever, I wanted to get it right, sorry bout the mistakes. Haha sorry bout the cliff hanger, you know what to do to find out what happens. **

**REVIEW and I will update ASAP, pinky promise **

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	19. Chapter 19 Semper Fidelis

**Wow thanks for all the reviews keep them coming please, updating as soon as I can as I promised, hope you still like it, loads of exams at the moment, but have some days off so will try to write then.**

**Hope you still like it**

Chapter 19 –

_Gibbs looked at them, horror and dread consuming him, Tony pressing the now red shirt into the dying child's chest ignoring the blood coming out of his own side, calling to her to stay with them, Ziva cradling Tali's head sobbing and screaming for her to stay with them, and Tali lying there in the dirt, the life they had saved now being drained trying to save them, he watched as the ambulance pulled up, Ziva begging her to not leave her, the brave little child, exhausted, allowed her eyes to slowly close._

"no, please no Tali" Ziva sobbed as herdaughter's eyes closed, she heard the ambulance pull up and paramedics leapt out pushing her aside, she saw Tony get pushed away and he stood up dazed staring at Tali, his hands stained in her blood, he looked at them blinking staring at them. Gibbs looked at the paramedics, they had paddles out and were trying to shock the life back into her, they were still trying as they loaded her into the ambulance and it drove away.

A second ambulance had appeared and the paramedics were trying to care for Tony and Ziva. Tony got into the ambulance still dazed as they began to look at his side, Ziva protested saying that she was fine, refusing to get in the ambulance, she needed to go, Gibbs could see, she was beaten badly and could have internal damage and her leg would need to be sorted, he walked over and took her arm and began to pull her towards the waiting ambulance Tony, looked at her, as though suddenly seeing her "no, Gibbs I am fine" she said struggling "Ziver" he said "just go get checked out, Tony needs you" "Tony" she mumbled looking for him and spotting him in the ambulance "come on Zee" he called "it will take us to Tali faster" she didn't argue after that she scrambled in, and hugged Tony, he hugged her, both of them allowing their tears to fall. Gibbs watched as the ambulance was closed and the sirens screaming it took off after the other one, carrying the DiNozzo daughter.

He got into his car to find McGee already in there staring after the ambulances too, "call the director" Gibbs said "let him know what happened" McGee nodded and Gibbs took off driving after the ambulances.

XOXOXOXO

When they arrived at the hospital the whole family was being looked after, McGee sat in the waiting room, glancing at the doors nervously, and Gibbs paced back and forth worried, he was just beginning to loose patience when he heard a shriek of "Gibbs" from behind, he spun round to find Abby, somehow sprinting in her platform boots (how she managed to do that he would never know) towards him, she looked frantic,

"ohmygosh you found them are they ok, are they alive, what about Dayan and Kedar, what did you do to them, how is Tony how is Ziva and how is Tali, nobody at NCIS would tell me anything"

"Abby" Gibbs said quietly "stop take a breath and calm down before you end up in surgery too after having a heart attack" Abby took a deep breath and then looked at him confused "what do you mean in surgery too" Gibbs looked at her long and hard before telling her what had happened

"when we got there we had no time left, so we went in after hearing a gunshot and a scream, the backup wasn't to far behind us, we will have to wait for one of the DiNozzos to tell us what happened in that time it took for us to find them, but when we got there, Tony and Ziva were surrounded by guns and Tali was lying on the floor a gun in hand with Dayan standing over her a gun pointing at her head, when Dayan realised we had found him he tried to kill Tali but I shot him, the back up team dealt with the guards, we completely forgot about Kedar until he tried to shoot up, McGee shot him twice and he open fired at us, it was Tali who shot him, she still had the gun in her hand and I saw her, she didn't even aim, her instincts took over and she shot him" he looked at Abby who stared at him in fright "why are they in surgery" she asked "during the open fire Ziva got shot through the leg and she had been beaten up before hand anyway, Tony got shot in the side protecting her and Tali…" he drew in a shaky breath and saw Abby's eyes fill with tears "…Tali got shot in the chest Abs, she was barely alive when we got her out of there, and she is beaten up bad, her back is torn open, she is covered in bruises and her ankle is broken, I am amazed she was still sane and alive after that, she must have been in so much agony"

Abby stared at him tears rolling down her cheeks smudging her mascara "so is she going to make it" she whispered "we don't know Abs" Gibbs said and then wrapped her in his arms as she began to sob "they cant die" she cried "Tony we cant live without him and his jokes and pranks, Ziva is invincible, and Tali, oh but Tali is just a child she is to young to die, she hasn't even become a teenager yet" Gibbs hugged her he felt the same way. At that moment a doctor came out and told them that Ziva was out of surgery and was absolutely fine "what about Anthony DiNozzo and Talia DiNozzo" Gibbs asked, the doctor paused "Anthony DiNozzo, I know is still in surgery and will be fine, as for Talia DiNozzo, I cant say, she was barely alive when she came in and if you want the truth, in my opinion after seeing the state she was in, I wouldn't get my hopes up on her surviving" he looked at them sadly and then told then that they could go see Ziva and gave them her room number.

They all went and looked through the window, they had obviously knocked her out with drugs and she was out cold still, they slipped in and closed the door after them, and Abby began to sob again seeing her friend in the condition she was in, bruised and beaten, with pain written all over her face even when she was unconscious. Gibbs took her hand gently "it is going to be ok Ziver" he said "you are going to be fine and Tony is going to be fine," he stopped "and we are going to do everything we can possible to make sure Tali is fine I promise"

They stayed with her until they heard that they could go see Tony, like Ziva he was unconscious and they were told they would keep him like that until tomorrow, now slightly worried about what he would have to tell Ziva when she woke up Gibbs asked again about Tali "she is still in surgery" Tony's doctor said "I am sorry that is all I know" Gibbs thanked him, and they spent time going between the two rooms, they were in Tony's when a doctor came and found them and told them Ziva was awake and asking for them.

Gibbs stood up and looked at McGee and Abby who looked scared "I cant go in there Gibbs" Abby said "I cant go in and see her pain when she asks for Tali" Gibbs moved forward and kissed the top of her head "its ok Abs you and McGee stay here with Tony, I am her boss I am the one who should tell her" he looked at Tony one last time before going down to Ziva's room.

XOXOXOXOXO

He stood outside for a minute looking at the beautiful Israeli woman who was like a daughter to him, she lay curled up, back to the window. Slowly he took a deep breath and knocked on the door, as he entered Ziva rolled over, "Gibbs" she mumbled sleepily "Ziver how are you feeling" he asked kissing her forehead "swept out" she mumbled making Gibbs chuckle "_wiped_ out Ziver" she smiled weakly before her face went serious "Tony and Tali" she asked in a whisper, worry on her face, Gibbs sat next to her and took her hand "Tony is fine, he came out of surgery a couple of hours ago, he is still unconscious but, he is expected to make a full recovery, I don't think I have ever been in the same room as Tony and had it so quiet though, it is kind of worrying" Ziva smiled "same" she whispered "he snores at night, but I do to apparently so I cant complain" Gibbs chuckled and then his smile slipped as Ziva gazed at him, now he knew where Tali had got the ability to hold him with her gaze.

"Gibbs" she whispered "do not lie to me, you deliberately did not mention Tali, I want to know, I have the right to know, tell me Gibbs, how is my daughter" he squeezed her hand tighter "I don't know much" he said honestly, "I have asked to be notified when she comes out of surgery as I was for you and Tony but they haven't said anything yet, the last I heard they were struggling to stop the bleeding" Ziva's eyes filled with tears "what are the odds" she demanded "damm it Gibbs tell me what are her chances" "oh Ziver" Gibbs whispered "I am so sorry, they are not high", Ziva let out a sob and fell into his arms, he held her as she sobbed, "why" she cried "why my Tali, why not me, I would trade my life for hers in a heartbeat Gibbs, I was willing to die, I would die for her" "shhh" Gibbs whispered "Tali feels the same way Ziva she would die for you too" "but she is so young, I have lived my life, she still needs to live hers" Ziva sobbed.

Gibbs gently raised her head to look at him "Ziva, crying isn't going to help her, you have to stay strong, not just for her but for Tony, he is going to need you and you need him, don't push him away or you will loose him too" Ziva sobbed "I cant go in there and tell him that his baby girl, his little ninja is most likely going to die" "hey" he said firmly "Rule 8 Never take anything for granted, you thought she would die at noon, but no she fought and you fought and she didn't die at noon, you thought that you and Tony would die in that warehouse but no you fought and Tali fought for you and now Dayan is dead and you are free" he hugged her as she sobbed, he thought back to the crazy assassin who had first started working for him, she had been so strong and always in control but that strong emotionless part of her had died in Somalia and she had come home more human though still a ninja as Tony had said, and then Tali had came along and her ninja self had completely disappeared except when she needed it, she no longer threatened to break Tony's fingers if he ever came into her private space, she no longer took him out if he tried to tease her, but that might have been because she lived with him now, so she couldn't.

She had already been through so much, "I will tell Tony Ziver, you don't have to, all you have to do is get better now" she nodded and then began to calm down slightly, "Tali will get through this Ziva" Gibbs said, "how can you be sure" she whispered, Gibbs looked at her long and hard "because she is yours and Tony's daughter" he said, "you are strong, a fighter, determined and so is she, she hates to see people in pain like Tony so she wont let you be in pain any longer than necessary, she is also like Tony in the way that you cant get rid of him" Ziva smiled at that last part, and he kissed her forehead "now rest" he said "get better for tomorrow when Tony wakes up, that is an order DiNozzo" "yes boss" she said quietly and he watched her slowly roll over tears still falling, a nurse came in to check on her, her doctors had already been told that they would tell her about Tali otherwise she would not stay in the bed and she would not be easy to treat, they hadn't been to keen thinking it would cause her more pain until Gibbs had pointed out that there was more pain not knowing, he watched as she gave her more painkillers and she slowly drifted off to sleep again, he touched her cheek before he left, his finger came back wet with her tears. Looking down he saw tears soaking the pillow proving that even when you were asleep you can still feel pain.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

The next morning he woke up back in Ziva's room, he had told Tim and Abby to go home but had spent the night there himself, he yawned and looked at his ninja agent, she was still sleeping soundly for now, he heard a knock on the door and looked up to find Director Vance standing in the doorway, "director" he acknowledged "Gibbs" Vance said as he entered "how are they" he asked looking at Ziva, Gibbs sighed "Ziva is fine, distraught about Tali but apart from that she is fine, Tony had successful surgery but they have kept him unconscious, till sometime today, and I don't know about Tali, I asked to be notified which is why I stayed here but I have heard nothing". Vance frowned "I will go ask in a minute about her, they had better tell me" he looked at the team leader "did you have to tell her" he asked nodding towards Ziva, Gibbs knew what he was talking about and nodded "I couldn't tell her much but I hated what I could tell her, how slim the chances are and all that, it was horrible, I told her I would tell Tony too, I am dreading that".

Vance sat down in the chair opposite him "what exactly happened" he asked "McGee was rather vague on the phone" "he was in shock" Gibbs said "we don't know much about what happened before we got in there, I didn't want to question Ziver last night, not when she was in that much pain already" he told Vance what he had told Abby but in more detail, when he finished Vance looked grim. He didn't speak, neither of them did until they heard a small whimper from the bed, they both looked down to see Ziva roll over, pain still in her eyes.

"Gibbs" she whispered "is there any news" Gibbs shook his head "I am sorry Ziver", she looked over and saw the director "how are you feeling Ziva" he said gently, her look answered his question, "I know what you must be going through Ziva, and I cant imagine how much pain you must be in, and I am sorry to ask but, please can you tell us what happened in that room until Gibbs came in"

Gibbs took his agents hand as she looked at him, she took a shaky breath before answering "Tony and I were held at the back of the room surrounded by guards …Tali… was so weak they didn't surround her, they didn't expect her to try anything, he counted down and said 'goodbye tateleh' he was just about to pull the trigger when Tali moved, she used her leg to knock his leg out from underneath him, he shot anyway, I screamed because Tali fell and didn't move, I thought she had died anyway, he was taunting me, laughing at my pain, I think he was planning to shoot Tony straight after, he tried to stand but Tali leapt at him, it surprised us all, we all thought she was dead, Dayan tried to shoot her again but she managed to pull the gun out of his hand, he knocked it away before she could do anything with it, I used the guards' confusion to try and free myself and Tony."

She took a shaky breath again "Dayan was trying to throttle Tali, he was choking her but she grabbed his knife and stabbed him in the back forcing him to let her go, she tried to run but he had broken her ankle the night before so she couldn't, he grabbed another gun and tried to shoot her, I warned her and she knocked over a table made of metal and used it as a shelter, Dayan was furious by now, he said that if she didn't come out he would shoot me and Tony, I think he actually meant it, Tali came out but attacked him, kicking him in the gut and diving for the gun she had wrestled from him earlier, she pointed it at him and he laughed at her, he mocked her, he said she couldn't shoot so she shot him in the shoulder to prove that she could, she tried to get him to release is but he just laughed, that is when Gibbs came in and shot Dayan and…" she broke off fighting back tears Gibbs squeezed her hand "it is ok Ziver we know thee rest" "thank you Ziva" Vance said "I truly am sorry about Tali and she will be in everyone's thoughts as we pray for her recovery" he left then and Gibbs saw him stop at the reception to obviously ask about Tali.

"I will be back Ziva I want to go see if Tony has woken up" he said and left quickly, Vance looked at him as he approached, he looked sad, and Gibbs felt a crushing sensation "she's not…" he asked hoarsely and sighed in relief when Vance shook his head "she came out of surgery at about 0100 after being worked on for about 10 hours, but things are not good, she is in ICU and has to have help breathing, they are planning to put her into a medically induced coma because of how much damage has been done" Gibbs swallowed "what are the odds" he asked, Vance looked at him, "if everything goes to plan they say that she will have a 20% chance of ever waking up again" he watched for Gibbs reaction "you don't seem that upset Gibbs" he commented "I have seen people pull through with worse odds and she is a DiNozzo" he said "with a Mossad mother, don't you think those increase the odds" Vance smiled at his optimism "if you say so" he murmured just as his phone rang.

Gibbs left him talking and slipped up to Tony's room, there was a doctor in there "are you going to wake him up" he asked the doctor nodded "you can stay as long as you don't get in the way" Gibbs nodded and moved over to the corner of the room.

Tony's eyelids fluttered and then closed he grumbled and squeezed them shut murmuring something that sounded like "five more minutes sweet cheeks" the doctors frowned and Gibbs bit back a small laugh before bending over Tony taking his shoulder and saying "DiNozzo, up NOW" Tony's eyes flew open and as Gibbs expected he shouted out "on your six boss" he tried to sit up but Gibbs help him down "don't move Tony, lie still" his agent looked around confused and then winced "oww where am I and why does my side feel like it is on fire" the doctors moved forward to give him more painkillers as carefully Gibbs replied "you got shot remember Tony", the senior field agents eyes widened as he remembered "oh my god" he said trying to sit up "Tali, Ziva where are they, are they ok, is Tali…" his voice trailed off "Ziva is fine Tony worried about you and Tali of course and Tali came out of surgery not to long ago" he paused looking at him "what" Tony asked panic in his eyes "well I don't know much, but she is in ICU because she struggles to breath on her own and they are going to have to put her in a medically induced coma if she doesn't get the hang of breathing on her own again soon" Tony closed his eyes and his head slumped back

"oh my god" he mumbled "not Tali, not my ninja" there were tears in his eyes now "she has a good chance though" Gibbs encouraged not wanting to bring him down even further, he thought she had a good chance anyway "buck up Tony, crying isn't going to help her" "sorry" he muttered "Rule 6 DiNozzo" he said, making his agent smile "does Ziva know" he asked "no" Gibbs said "I knew nothing when she woke up last night, she was still pretty upset though", Tony sighed "can I see her" he asked, "I will see what I can do" Gibbs promised, he clapped his agent on the shoulder "get some rest Tony, you look like hell" "thanks that is just what I needed to hear" Tony muttered as he left.

He shut his eyes and sighed, he prayed that Tali would be ok, his little ninja, Ziva would never be the same without her daughter, and neither would he. He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew someone was sitting in the chair next to his and was squeezing his hand tightly, he knew that grip, he would know that anywhere, it was not as strong as the time during child birth that grip had nearly fractured his hand, but it was just as desperate.

He opened his eyes to see his beautiful wife sitting in the chair next to his bed, she looked exhausted, but much better, "hey beautiful" he whispered, out of the corner of his eye he saw Gibbs slip out of the room "hello my little hairy butt" he smiled and then held out his arms, Ziva leant forward and still sitting in the chair snuggled into his chest, he hugged her, until he felt her sob.

"hey, hey" he said looking at her "what is wrong Zee" "nothing I am sorry I am scared for Tali" she pressed herself tighter against him "shh it is going to be ok" he said "Gibbs told you huh" she nodded "then you know that she will be fine, Gibbs hasn't given her permission to die, it worked on me all those years ago" she let out a shaky laugh "come on Zee, look on the bright side, we survived, we all did and Dayan is never going to bother us again, nor is Kedar, we are safe Zee" she looked at him with her warm chocolate eyes full of hope "you think so" she whispered, he kissed her "I know so" he said firmly and with that they drifted into a doze together content for the first time in what felt like forever.

XOXOXOXO

Gibbs walked down the corridors of ICU, he didn't like the feeling of this place, it was to dark to gloomy, it had a feel of death to it, he spotted the room he had been told and went inside, there was a nurse bending over the patient in the bed, she looked up as Gibbs entered, and smiled sympathetically "who are you" she asked "her grandfather" he said "how is she", the nurse sighed and looked down at the patient "still struggling to breathe, but I can tell she is trying, she looks like a little fighter" Gibbs smiled, remembering what Ziva had said she had done "she is" he said "her father calls her his little ninja" the nurse smiled "your son" she questioned, he nodded "in – law but he doesn't really have a father so I guess I took over when he um married my daughter" he was making this up as he went along but he had to so that he would be allowed to see her. "I heard what happened to this family, I cant believe that anyone would be so cruel to hurt a 12 year old" the nurse said looking disgusted "and try and kill her" Gibbs sat in the chair and looked at the girl in the bed "it takes more than a few bullets and a beating to take down our girl"

The nurse smiled and Gibbs had to ask "what are her chances if she manages to start breathing soon, I know they are low if she has to be put in the coma", the nurse finished checking the drip and turned to him "higher" she said "about 40%" Gibbs nodded and the nurse gave him another smile, and told him not to touch anything, and then she left.

When she was gone, he looked at the girl, it hurt to see her there, lying so still, unmoving, pale making her bruises and other injuries stand out vividly. Her lips parted making way for the tube to go down her throat, the only thing that was keeping her breathing, the only thing that was keeping her alive. "come on sweetheart" he said taking her hand gently "you can get through this, you need to get through this, I know how much pain you must be in and how peaceful it would be to stop, to just let go, but you cant, I know you must be exhausted but you must keep fighting" he looked at his goddaughter, clinging on to life by the tips of her fingers, "don't you ever let go sweetie, keep holding on"

He stayed there for a while gripping her hand, she had to make it through this, no he knew she would make it through this, she was a fighter, and she was a DiNozzo. He had faith, "Talia Kaitlyn DiNozzo" he said "you may be named after two dead people, but you are not going to die, you are going to keep their memories alive, your parents gave you those strong names, of two strong women, and I know that might have seemed like big shoes you had to fill, but believe me kid, you have filled them over and over again. You were named after two fighters, so that is what you must now do even though you have already"

"Fight, Tali. Fight."

He looked at her and smiled, the beeping on the monitors seemed to have gotten stronger, "good girl" he whispered "we are all here Tali, behind you every step of the way" he carefully kissed her forehead

"And we are all so very proud of you, I am so proud of you baby girl, we have faith in you kid don't let us down now" he had to leave then, and he looked over is shoulder at her one last time before walking out, but before he left, he spoke two words to her, words of power, and strength.

"Semper Fidelis Tali"

**Hope you liked it**

**Spoiler Alert: I am not going to make Tali die, I enjoy writing about her too much**

**Let me know what you think**

**Please review, lots of reviews = happy me = sooner update**

**Thanks**

**Mysticgirl101**


	20. Chapter 20 Past Memories

**Thanks for all the reviews, I am glad you all enjoy reading about ninja Tali as much as I enjoy writing about her, still planning a sequel but I might update my Bones sequel first as I have pretty much abandoned it, but if I get loads of requests I will start the sequel soon, I promise.**

**Anyway hope you like it**

Chapter 20 –

When Gibbs arrived back at Tony's room, he wasn't surprised to still find Ziva there, it had taken quite a lot of persuasion on his part and begging and a couple of threats from Ziva to allow her to come up to Tony's room, they had tried to get her to use a wheelchair but she had stoutly refused so to try and keep peace Gibbs had pretty much carried her.

He stood outside looking at his two agents, he had to admit from the moment he had first seen Tony and Ziva together he had always known they would cause him grief, and he guessed he had always know they would break rule 12 too, seeing them under cover as Jean Paul and Sophie Ranier, there was no way that had been fake, the little quirky comments Tony would give to Ziva in the office, the way Ziva would not react to his flirting, the way his eyes would pop if she taunted him with her body. Yes he had known they would one day get together.

But he had never expected Tali, he had never been able to imagine them with children, Ziva never portrayed her emotions, and although she was fine around children she had never been parental, but when he had seen her walk in with the tiny new born baby he had seen a different Ziva, the way she had cradled her daughter in her arms, the looks she gave her, they were looks of pure love.

And Tony, well, he was still a child himself, he had his ways with the kids during crimes, they had all seemed to get a kick out of annoying him though, he had been worried when he had heard that Tony was the father of Ziva's child, not the most normal family you would find, but he had seen Tony with Tali, she had clearly adored her daddy from a very early age, and she was always his little princess. He had proved to be a good father who doted on his daughter.

He looked at them now, Ziva had fallen asleep half in Tony's arms and half in the chair next to his bed, Tony was gazing at her with so much love, devotion and pride in his eyes it brought tears to his own, he watched him stroking hair out of Ziva's eyes, he kissed the top of her head and then looked up and saw Gibbs standing outside looking through the window, he gave him a smile and Gibbs returned it as he entered "better" he asked "yes" Tony said holding his wife protectively "thank you boss for everything you have done for us, over the years, you have been more of a father to me than my own ever was and the same for Ziva she told me, you showed her that someone did actually care for her in this world" Gibbs smiled and sat in the chair on the other side of the bed "no problem Tony, you and Ziva have been the son and daughter that I never had and that was taken away from me, you even gave me a grand daughter, but don't forget Tony, that you showed Ziva love too, you were the one that comforted her and protected her, you always had her six, you gave her a family that she thought she would never have, you made her more human"

Tony smiled and hugged Ziva tighter "no" he said "Tali made her human" Gibbs smiled and watched him; Ziva sighed in her sleep and shifted pressing herself tighter against him. "how is Tali" Tony asked making Gibbs look at him in surprise "how did you know I went to see her" he asked, "well in a hospital there is only really three things you can do, wait, visit or drink coffee, I know you don't have the patience to wait in the lobby and the coffee here sucks, and she is your goddaughter so you would go visit her if you could" Gibbs smiled "you are a better detective than I thought Tony" he said making his agent scowl "yeah I saw her, by the way, to the staff up there I am her biological grandfather and you are my son in law, and Ziva is my daughter"

Tony chuckled Gibbs really wouldn't let anything stop him from seeing Tali, he looked at his boss "and oh father in law, how is my daughter" Gibbs smiled slightly "still unconscious, and struggling, but I think she is recovering, she is certainly a fighter, I told her that she wasn't going to die, thought I might give that a try as it worked on you, the nurses think that is she begins to breathe on her own again she will have a much higher chance of pulling through" he could see the hope in Tony's eyes "don't worry Tony, she will make it, she is hardly going to stop fighting now after all that fighting she did against Dayan" he saw anger flare up in Tony's eyes at the mention of that man who had ripped her back open. "Ziva told me of how she fought" Gibbs said "she was amazing" Tony said "I am so proud of her, she couldn't even stand and every time she moved her back she was in agony and yet she threw herself around fighting, I am so, so proud of her" Tony whispered. "we all are Tony we all are"

Just then there was a small squeal from the doorway and they both looked up to see Abby and McGee standing in the doorway "shh" they both went and Ziva mumbled and shifted in her sleep, Abby crept forward and Tony held out the arm that wasn't wrapped around Ziva to give her a hug, "hey" he said "why is everyone crying when I give them a hug" Abby let out a watery giggle "oh Tony" she sobbed "I am just so glad you are ok and finally awake", Tony smiled and hugged her "I wasn't out for that long Abs, and of course I am ok, I am not that easy to get rid of" Abby sobbed into his shoulder for a few more minutes before she managed to pull herself together and she stepped away so that McGee could say hi.

Tony grinned "hey well if it isn't McShoot a lot", McGee groaned and rolled his eyes "I cant believe I was even worried about you Tony" he said but Tony grinned and pulled him carefully without waking his sleeping wife into a man hug and whispered "thanks Tim" into his ear, making the younger agent grin as he clapped him on the back.

They talked quietly for a while until Ziva stirred and woke up looking around in surprise to find the room suddenly full, she sat up mumbling "hi" "Zeeevvaaa" Abby squealed and launched herself at her friend hugging her tightly, Ziva smiled and hugged her friend tightly back closing her eyes savouring the contact. Gibbs remembered when she had first arrived and had shied away from physical contact, now she was hugging Abby tightly as the scientist broke into sobs again. "I am fine Abby seriously, do not worry" Abby stood straight "do not worry, I have been worried out of my fricken mind for the past five days I haven't slept in days trying to find you and now you tell me not to worry, Ziva of course I worry, you are my best friend and oh don't ever do that again" she fell back on Ziva sobbing fresh tears and Gibbs couldn't hold back a small smile.

They stayed in that room for the rest of the day, Ziva climbed onto the bed with Tony where she remained much to the doctors' disapproval until it was time for everyone to go and the doctors came in "you have to go back now, Mrs DiNozzo" one said looking warily at her, "come on Ziver" Gibbs said as she opened her mouth to argue, he bent close and whispered "they wont let you come back if you are not careful" she sighed and nodded before turning and burying her head into Tony's shoulder, and hugging him tightly "I love you" she whispered "always" Tony promised and they kissed "layla tov" (good night) she whispered to her husband before she allowed Gibbs to wrap his arms around her and assist her back to her room, he helped her climb into the narrow bed before kissing her forehead, "goodnight Ziver" he said before sitting in the chair "Gibbs go home" she mumbled "I am fine, go sleep, you look exhausted" "I am fine Ziver" he protested but Ziva opened one eye to glare at him "halah" (go) she ordered so with a small smile and after giving her another kiss on the forehead he left her room. Once out of sight he toyed for a minute, go home to bed for what felt like the first time in ages, nah, he didn't want too, he headed for Tony's room but guessed he would tell him to go home too so he went to the last DiNozzo's room.

The nurse who had been in there last time, Jackie, was in there again, and she greeted him warmly "any change" he asked "she seems to be getting better, her heart has been a lot stronger, but unfortunately she is still not breathing on her own, every time we try to make her she manages for a couple of breaths and then she stops again, but she is trying ever so hard" Gibbs smiled as he sat down next to her again "hey sweetheart" he said, focusing only on the child in the bed, blocking everything including the nurse out "you are doing so well kiddo, I know you are fighting so hard and we are all so proud of you, keep it up so that soon we will see your pretty little eyes open again, I don't know when your mom and dad will be allowed to come and visit you, but I know that if they don't get to soon things are going to get heated down there"

"They love you so much Tali, we all do, Uncle Tim and Aunt Abby will probably be up tomorrow, keep fighting, kid, you know the rule, the new one, rule 52 is it. Never Ever give up hope" he gripped her hand tightly "your mom and dad they love you so much, you need to stay strong and fight for them Tali, I know how tired you must be and if I could take your place and fight for you I would in a heartbeat kid, we all would." He stopped and looked at her face, she was a beautiful child even when she was covered in bruises "keep it up sweetheart, don't stop fighting, you have to breathe Tali, keep trying you must breathe" he listened to her heart monitor, it beeped loudly and rather unevenly, it scared him, he fell asleep in the chair next to his goddaughter.

As he slept memories flashed before him:

_Tony fidgeting at his desk, glancing at the clock over and over again, he still hadn't given an explanation for why he had run out of the office yesterday, looking absolutely terrified, just then the elevator dinged and to everyone's surprise Ziva came out, she looked tired but happy, she was holding something with both hands, she kept it pressed tightly against her chest._

'_Ziva' Abby shrieked and she hurled herself at the Israeli women who laughed and released whatever she was holding with one hand to hug the scientist 'careful Abby' she said as the overexcited Goth hugged her tightly Abby released her and stepped back so that they could all see her, she looked well, tired yes but so happy she looked like she had lost weight too. His and the rest of his team's eyes all travelled down with hers to look at the bundle in her arms, he felt his jaw drop, nestled in the Mossad assassin's arms eyes closed, one tiny hand poking out of the blanket, was a beautiful baby girl._

'_er Ziva' McGee asked 'what is that' 'it's a baby McGoo' Tony said from where he was seated, he hadn't risen to greet Ziva, he didn't even look surprised to see the child. 'oh my god' Abby breathed 'she is beautiful Ziva, who's is she', Ziva allowed Abby to take the child and Abby stepped away whispering to the baby as she hugged her tightly 'um' Ziva said biting her lip 'she is mine' everyone except Tony stared at her 'what' McGee said 'since when Ziva' 'she was born yesterday McGee, at 1348' she stared at her baby love and pride in her eyes, out of the corner of his eye Gibbs saw Tony stand move over to Ziva, she smiled at him, she seemed to be comforted by his presence._

'_oh my' Abby breathed again 'she is yours oh Ziva she is gorgeous, I want one' Ziva smiled, then McGee asked the question 'who is her father Ziva' again Ziva bit her lip and Gibbs saw DiNozzo begin to back away looking worried, she took a deep breath and then dropped their bombshell 'Tony', everyone stared, Gibbs saw the baby slide slightly in Abby's grip as everyone stared, Ziva slipped forward and took her child hugging her almost protectively 'yes' she said 'her name is Talia Kaitlyn DiNozzo'_

_Gibbs stood up 'DiNozzo' he barked seeing his senior field agent slipping away, with a wince he came back and stood next to Ziva 'you got David pregnant' Gibbs growled 'actually' Tony shifted before taking Ziva's hand and showing him the rings 'it is also DiNozzo now' Gibbs stared at the two of them standing there like two naughty children caught with their hand in the cookie jar, they kept hold of each others hands and Gibbs saw Tony bring one hand up to brush down the baby's face, his baby._

'_does rule 12 not mean anything to you' he growled as he gave Tony two head slaps 'ow' Tony complained 'the second was for you Ziva, but I am not going to hit you while you have a child in your arms' Ziva looked quite relieved 'seriously I set rule 12 up to make sure nothing like this would ever happen now you are going to have to change your work hours and Ziva is going to have to have leave to care for her child and we cant just spontaneously call you up anymore when there is a crime because there is going to be a baby to take into account' he continued to rave at them until Ziva stopped him 'we were hoping you would help us' she said 'you are her godfather Gibbs and we would like it if you helped us with her, you were like a father to us and we are hoping that you would show the same affection to Tali' his anger softened as he looked into her eyes, warm and pleading._

_She then moved towards him 'I would like to get back to work now' she said and the next thing he knew she had placed the child into his arms, he stared at the tiny face, as he watched the small eyes opened to reveal big blue eyes and that was the first time that Tali's gaze held him in place, touching him to his very core 'well played Ziver' he said grudgingly and saw her smile as she sat in her chair, he walked round to his chair and sat down rocking the little girl from side to side gently 'Tali' he murmured quietly and smiled as she opened her mouth and yawned before gazing at him curiously, Talia Kaitlyn, pretty name, her face then broke into a small grin and she chirped gently, he couldn't help it he smiled, he could see his team watching him but he didn't care now._

_Abby was gazing at the baby, he could tell she wanted to come and take her back now that she had gotten over the original shock, but let Gibbs keep her to make sure he was completely won over by the child. Ducky appeared then muttering something about a weird message from McGee who didn't seem to be able to talk, he simply pointed to Ziva, then Tony and then to little Tali in Gibbs' arms, he had been shocked when all had been explained and had given her a check over saying that she was a fine young lady and would grow up into a beautiful young girl. Gibbs wasn't listening, he was focused only on the baby in his arms,_

'_Welcome to the family Tali' he said softly _

Gibbs opened his eyes to find that he was crying, Ducky had certainly been right, Tali was a very beautiful child, the most beautiful and bravest child. He gazed at her now, he wanted nothing more than to feel the power of her gaze as she stared at him, but no her eyes remained closed, and as he was exhausted still he slowly closed his too, sitting in the chair.

_He dreamed a girl, a girl with long brown hair with a reddish tint to it done up in braids, there was a happy smile on her face as she smiled at him. Kelly. 'Daddy' she exclaimed as she ran towards him, laughing he scooped her up 'hey shortcake' he said kissing her, in the distance he could see Shannon, her long red hair waving gently in the wind. He set Kelly down as he heard a laugh, turning he saw another girl, with long brown hair of different shades, it came almost to her waist, her hazel eyes burned with excitement. Tali. He remembered when she had looked like that, she had been eight, the same age that Kelly had been when she died._

_Laughing the two girls took off running around the field giggling happily, looking round he saw Tony and Ziva standing watching the two children interact, Tony had is arm wrapped around Ziva and she was leaning against him content. He looked back to the two girls, now sitting in the grass, they looked at him grinning, he looked at Kelly, he missed her so much he whished he had been there to protect his girls, she smiled toothily at him, delight in her eyes, he then looked at Tali, her gold eyes softer now as she grinned, they were his girls, sitting there together, smiling identically like sisters, that was when the resemblance between Tali and Kelly hit him, now he looked at them together, they were so alike as though Tali was Kelly's doppelganger, he looked at Tali and she smiled, Kelly's smile._

Again he jerked awake crying, no, he couldn't loose Tali now, not after that, "please Tali" he begged "do not give up on us, we need you, I need you" the child did not respond, she lay there, still struggling.

XOXOXOXOXO

When he woke the next morning his back hurt like hell, but he didn't care, he looked at the little girl, she looked exactly the same, no change. He sighed and got up listening to her rattling breathing he bent towards her and kissed her forehead "I will be back soon shortcake" he whispered not realising what he had called her until he was standing in the elevator, shortcake had been his special nickname for Kelly when she was little, he had never called any other child that name before, it struck him then how much Tali meant to him, how much her family and the rest of his team meant to him. They were his family now.

He went down peering into Tony's room to find him still sleeping, so with a smile he headed to Ziva's room, as expected she was awake and looking rather grumpy, he knew that she wanted to go out and run, after all she had been stuck in a grubby little cell for days, only to be rescued and be told to stay off her feet, she had a lot of energy that she wanted to burn, she was still a rather free spirit and hated being held back and for now bedridden.

"Gibbs" she said in surprise "you are here early, you did go home didn't you" he smiled as he gave her a kiss on the cheek "yes Ziver I went home, fell asleep building my boat again", his boats had stopped being worked on recently, he didn't build them as often now, he now had the sudden urge to finish the one he had been working on for a few years now. She looked at him disapprovingly before asking "when can I get up Gibbs I cant stand sitting around doing nothing any more" "ah Ziva it will do you some good to calm down, besides you are on desk duty for a while when you come back to work any way" Gibbs watched in amusement as her face twisted into a pout "Gibbs" she complained "orders of Director Vance Ziver, but I agree, you could damage your leg further if you run and fight on it so soon after recovering, don't worry" he added seeing her grumpy face "Tony will be on desk duty too" her face broke into a small smile "was that meant to comfort me or terrify me more Gibbs"

He chuckled, just then breakfast was served and he helped himself to one of the croissants on the tray, she ate delicately at first before eating almost desperately, he realised that she must not have eaten much while she was being held prisoner. When she was done he offered her the rest of the croissant he had nicked but she shook her head, "no you have it, you obviously didn't have any breakfast" he smiled and finished his small breakfast.

"any news on Tali" she asked, he could tell she had been dying to ask that that from the moment she had seen him, but had refrained until now, "no change" he said "but they say she is trying so hard, they have never seen anyone, not even a strong adult fight as hard as her" Ziva smiled and whispered "yes that sounds like my Tali" before asking "when can I see her Gibbs, I need to see her" she looked at him desperately her rich chocolate eyes desperate "soon" he promised "I will ask if you and Tony can go up today Ziva I promise, oh by the way up there you are my daughter as I am her grandfather otherwise they wouldn't let me see her" she smiled and then realised what he said "you have seen her, how does she look, is she in pain" she asked desperately, Gibbs looked at her "I think you should see her for yourself Ziver" he said softly "rather than hear it from me" she frowned at him but at that moment the doctor came in making his morning rounds, Gibbs waited outside until he was done and came back inside to hear her ask about staying with Tony for the day again, the doctor sighed and said he couldn't see why not and once again Gibbs himself pretty much carrying Ziva to see her husband ignoring her protests.

XOXOXOXO

Tony was dozing when once again he felt someone grip his hand, then the mattress sagged as someone climbed on, he opened his eyes slowly and stared into the warm chocolate eyes that he loved so much "hey" he whispered, "hey" she whispered back snuggling into his arms again and with a sigh of content she shut her eyes, Tony looked to the doorway to see Gibbs standing there leaning on the doorframe, he nodded his thanks relieved that he would be able to spend the day with Ziva, it was rather boring on your own in a hospital bed.

Gibbs smiled gently at him and Tony mouthed "Tali" over his wife's head "no change" Gibbs mouthed back and Tony nodded he didn't seem to know whether to look relieved or disappointed. Gibbs left them again and went to talk to the doctor in charge of his team, the doctor told them him that Ziva would be fine in a couple of days and would be able to go home as long as they made her stay off her feet as much as possible 'easier said than done' Gibbs thought, as for Tony, he would have to stay for at least four more days and like Ziva he would have to stay off his feet for at least 3 weeks.

"Thank you" Gibbs said "their daughter Tali is in ICU, can they visit her today" he asked, the doctor frowned "I don't think today is best, perhaps in a couple of days" he suggested, Gibbs leaned towards him "listen, I wasn't really asking, I was saying that if you don't let them see her, especially Ziva you might not live to see another day, she used to be in the Israeli Mossad you know, if you don't let them see their daughter who they last saw lying bleeding on the ground dying things might get very difficult round here, so if you want to live to see your family again then I suggest you let them see their dying daughter" the doctor looked at him warily "well I suppose I could see if I could arrange a short visit" he said uncertainly, Gibbs clapped him on the shoulder "good man you do that" he said before turning and heading back into Tony's room where Ziva had opened her eyes and the two of them were having a quiet conversation which they stopped when Gibbs entered.

"Tali" Ziva said instantly, Gibbs felt emotional at her dedication and determination to see her daughter, "I have asked and the doctor is seeing if he can arrange a short visit for sometime today, don't fight him guys if it is only for a little while, you are in their hands while you are here so you might have to stay in their good books" they both nodded. Abby and McGee came by soon and looked relieved to see them again, Abby flung herself at both of them, giving them bone crushing hugs, Tony winced as she squeezed his side where the bullet had hit him, but hugged her back, they were like brother and sister to each other Gibbs thought, they had their differences, but so did every sibling, but their love of movies brought them back together.

The doctor eventually returned making everyone stop talking and look at him anxiously, Gibbs saw him glance nervously at Ziva, and didn't hold back a smirk, "I have spoken to the doctors in ICU" he said "and they said you could come and visit your daughter for a little while," both DiNozzos nodded and they were assisted carefully up into the elevator which carried them slowly up to ICU.

XOXOXOXO

Tony gripped Ziva's hand tightly and glanced at her, she seemed anxious, she glanced at him and he gave her the best reassuring smile that he could, Abby, Gibbs and McGee were there too, the elevator stopped and they all carefully stepped out being supported by their 'family', they had spoken about this before they came up, Abby was Tony's little sister, and McGee was Ziva's brother and Gibbs' son. There was a doctor waiting for them and he introduced himself as Dr Stevens, he had been the one to operate on Tali, and was now in charge of her, he carefully explained her situation in more detail to the family, who all nodded, once he was done he lead them to a room, the curtains were drawn but the door was wide open, the rest of the family backed away leaving the two parents standing together ready to see their daughter, gripping each others hands for strength.

Tony took a deep breath as he looked at Ziva who looked at him and nodded, slowly they moved forward into their daughter's hospital room, it was a simple designed room, with just the basics really, two chairs, a small sink, there was even a small TV on a small frame set high on the wall. And the hospital bed, large and un comfy looking, surrounded by beeping machines and a small pump pushing air in and out of the patient's lungs, forcing her to breathe.

Tony stared at the girl, he couldn't think of her as Tali, his daughter, not in this state, he was already struggling to hold back tears at the thought of anyone in the state of the girl in the bed, now it was his daughter; she lay there barely moving except for her chest moving carefully up and down. The only sound apart from the beeping monitors was the occasional rasping breath as she tried to breathe on her own only to fail and the machine take over for her, the few breaths she did manage sounded raspy and rattling as she fought to suck air in past the tube down her throat. He looked at her, his daughter, he sat down on one side of the bed and Ziva moved slowly as though in a daze to sit on her other side, her eyes never leaving her daughters face, they began to swim with tears as she stared at her, eyes closed, bruised and beaten, no emotions on her face, it was like they were staring at their daughter's shell, while the stuff that made her who she really was, was gone. He bent forward and very carefully placed a kiss on her forehead, "oh baby girl" he breathed "I love you so much, keep fighting baby, we cant live without you, please" he felt a sob and didn't hold it back, he could see Ziva's tears falling as she slowly took her daughter's hand, he felt tears begin to slide down his cheeks, but he didn't care, he wanted to let them all out, to make room for hope and determination. He reached over and took Ziva's hand and took hold of Tali's other hand, making the invisible link that bound them together for the first time visible, showing how much they needed each other, and how should one person be torn away, there was an irreplaceable gap, a void that could not be filled.

As he sat he gripped his family's hand a memory overcame him.

_Ziva lying in a hospital bed gasping in pain, covered in sweat, he was gripping her hand tightly, trying to reassure her 'come on Zee it is going to be fine, you are doing so well, not much more you are doing great' Ziva gasped in pain and then snarled 'you say that I am doing fine one more time I am going to kill you with a paperclip' the doctor chuckled 'that is a new threat' he said 'oh it wasn't a threat' Tony muttered just as Ziva let out a cry and the doctor said 'this is it Ziva, now I need you to push as hard as you can ok' Ziva nodded 'come on Zee show me your Mossad strength' Tony encouraged earning himself a dirty look, which changed into a look of panic 'Tony' she gasped 'I am right here sweet cheeks I am not going anywhere I promise you' he smiled and kissed her forehead 'come on it is finally time to meet our son or daughter' Ziva nodded and gripped his hand 'ok' the doctor said 'on the count of three Ziva you have to push' again Ziva nodded, the look one her face plainly said 'just get them out now'' 'ok' the doctor said readying himself 'one two three push Ziva'_

_Ziva closed her eyes straining hard gripping Tony's hand, he winced at the force of her grip, but didn't want to tell her that she was crushing his hand so he let her encouraging her, she fell back gasping 'come on Ziva another push like that and your baby will be out' the doctor said, so with a whimper Ziva strained again 'I can see a head' Tony gasped in amazement 'they are coming Ziva' then Ziva fell back against the pillows exhausted as a small cry echoed around the room, she looked aver to see Tony staring shocked and dazed at the doctor who was wrapping a small human up in a blanket, with a smile he moved over and placed the baby in Ziva's arms, 'congratulations' he said 'you have a daughter'_

_Tony stared down at Ziva who looked even more tired than he had ever seen her, leaning against the pillows staring at the tiny child in her arms 'a girl' she whispered 'she is so beautiful'' 'just like her mommy' Tony whispered kissing her forehead, she smiled at him and then offered him their child, he blinked before very carefully taking the baby and cradling her gently, he remembered staring down into the tiny face of his daughter, relief and love coursing through him, as he stared into her eyes, unable to believe that he had a daughter, she stared up at her daddy confused 'hey' he whispered 'we still need to think of a name for you baby girl. Ziva smiled, as he carefully handed her back to Ziva before perching on the end of the bed so that they could both see her, 'what do you think' she asked, they mulled over names that they had previously liked but none of them seemed to suit their beautiful child._

_Then Tony almost hesitantly said 'what about Talia' Ziva looked at him 'after your sister' he said 'I think it is a beautiful name' Ziva stared at him 'you wouldn't mind' she whispered, 'no of course not Zee' he smiled as she nodded "Tali' she crooned softly rocking her gently from side to side as she stared around in confusion her breath coming in short sharp gasps, 'we still need a middle name' Tony reminded her and Ziva looked at him 'I like Kaitlyn' she said softly making Tony smile at her 'Talia Kaitlyn DiNozzo' he said giving it a try 'I like it' he said, he looked down once again at the beautiful new life that they had created, and her big blue eyes captured his heart and from that very moment he was wrapped around his little girls finger, at her complete mercy._

Almost 13 years later Tony stared at his daughter's face again whishing he could see her eyes open again, he wished he could see her smile, he looked at Ziva who was crying silently/ he watched as she gently began to whisper to her in Hebrew, she ended up softly almost under her breath singing a little song she used to sing to Tali in Hebrew every night before bed. Tony listened as he had done every night; he has never gotten tired of listening to Ziva sing or Tali for that matter, they stayed watching her fight, Tony felt guilty, his and Ziva's battle had ended, they no longer had to fight, and Tali, who had fought for the longest and the hardest had to keep fighting "oh baby girl I am so, so sorry" he whispered, he heard the rest of his team come in then and a sob, looking round he saw Gibbs standing with pain in his eyes as he stared at his goddaughter again, Abby had crumpled into McGee's arms sobbing at the sight of the little girl who she had grown accustomed to having around now. McGee was also staring at her in shock pain in his eyes too.

Together the whole family at the little girl's bedside, watching her fight, wishing there was something they could do to help her.

But there was nothing they could do, this was a fight that Tali would have to fight on her own, a fight for her life was one that only she could battle.

**Hope you liked it, it is like 10 pages long so you had better like it.**

**Let me know what you think PLEASE**

**Please review, lots of reviews = happy me = sooner update**

**Also if anyone wants a specific story, check out my profile and see if I know the show, or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give it a go.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	21. Chapter 21 Begging and Breathing

**Wow thanks, loving all the reviews, please keep them coming, hope you all are still enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it. I love hearing what you like about it and I love your compliments, thanks everyone, without your support this story would not have been able to happen.**

**Anyway hope you like it**

Chapter 21 –

It was hard when it was time to leave, Ziva clung to her daughter's hand desperate to stay with her, she couldn't leave her not now, not after staying with her as much as she was allowed when being held by Dayan, never letting her go, she felt tears as Gibbs took her by the shoulder "come on Ziver you can see her again soon" she didn't listen she just stared at her daughter, it was only when Tony got up and crouched down next to her stroking her cheek, gently pulling her face to look at him, "Zee" he whispered, she lifted her eyes to look into his, greenie gold ones, "come on" he said softly, crying gently she slowly pulled herself to her feet and hugged her husband, slowly they were taken back to the elevator and then back to Tony's room, she refused to go back to her own room, instead she hugged the father of her child, the only one who would be in the exact same pain as her "Tony" she sobbed "why her, why our Tali, she was so brave she did not deserve that bullet"

"hush Zee, I know, I don't understand either, she did not deserve that bullet, I wish it had been me Zee, it should have been me, I am her father I am meant to protect her, keep her safe and take chances for her, oh Zee it should have been me" he had his own tears running down his cheeks now and now he had let out that guilt he had been trying not to show he felt it, he felt the guilt now it was out. He remembered her words, those words that meant so much to him, as he had held her the day before her supposed to be death, when he had told her pretty much what he had just told Ziva

'_Daddy, you will always be my hero'_

He let out a sob and tightened his grip around his wife, it took him a few minutes to bring himself back under control and when he was and he had taken a few deep breaths he began to try and comfort Ziva again, he was the man of the house, always there for his girls, he was their rock, their anchor, he had to be the one to keep them steady. "it is going to be ok Zee I promise you, Tali is going to be fine, and do you know how I know that" he felt her shake her head "because she is a little you and you are the strongest person I know, you don't give up ever and neither will she" Ziva hugged him closer, she seemed to be bringing her tears back under control now.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

They stayed there together eventually Ziva fell asleep in his arms, when the doctors came back to try and take her to her own room, he snarled at them to leave her and that she was fine, Gibbs and the rest of the team had been forced to go to work, but Gibbs came back and heard Tony trying to make the doctors let Ziva stay with him "please" he said "you said she is fine and that she is being released tomorrow and she is finally asleep" the doctors conferred for a few minutes before probably remembering what they had been told about Ziva and realising she would probably kill them if they tried to make her leave. Once they had left Gibbs came in "hey boss" Tony said "what are you doing here" "work is over Tony, I came to check on you before I went home, you know you really should try and stay in the doctors good books, they are the ones in charge of your pain medication.

Tony stroked hair out of Ziva's face "I would rather have her here, relaxed and happy than pain meds" Gibbs smiled "the doctors are releasing Ziva tomorrow huh" he said "yeah" Tony said "but she is gonna stay here for a bit, I get out in a couple of days, I don't want her to go home to an empty house" Gibbs nodded, "well" he said regretfully "I am exhausted so I am off home, get some sleep DiNozzo" he clapped his agent on the shoulder before walking out, he decided to go home, but he didn't go to bed, he went down stairs and began to work on his boat, he had started this one after finishing his other one_ Kelly_, he hadn't built any until Tali had been about 5, he was working on it a lot more slowly than his others but it was nearly finished.

He carefully worked on it sanding it down thinking about the case, but as he worked another memory of Tali flashed before his eyes.

_Tali aged 6 sitting on the step of his basement watching him work, sanding the beams into the correct shape, Tony and Ziva had been caught in traffic on the way home from an interview so he had told them to pick Tali up from his house, she watched her head to one side slightly like her mother when she tried to figure something in the English language out 'uncle Gibbs, why do you build your boat in your basement' she asked 'so even when it is raining I can work on it because I wont get wet' he told her, she frowned 'how do you get it out' she asked, he looked up at her and smiled 'that is a secret' he said._

_She watched him for a little bit longer before jumping down and clambering into the boat watching him work 'do you want to help sweetie' he offered, her face lit up and she nodded and he carefully stood her on a upturned bucket and handed her the sander, then he carefully place his larger rough hands over her small soft ones, he carefully began to sand with her, smiling at her wide eyes and big grin, she continued to stand there allowing him to guide her hands up and down the beam until her parents arrived._

_At first she hadn't even noticed them, she had been to engrossed in helping, it was only when Tony had said 'please no not another boat Gibbs' with a smile on his face that she noticed 'daddy' she had exclaimed, Gibbs carefully lifted her off the bucket and set her on the ground so she could run over, Tony scooped her up to give her a hug, 'wow look at you covered in sawdust' he commented 'daddy I been helping' she said proudly making Tony and Ziva smile 'I can see that, what are you building princess' he asked 'a boat' she said proud of what she was making 'wow aren't you a big girl' he said before setting her down 'go thank uncle Gibbs for looking after you' she ran over and Gibbs set down his tool to pick her up so she could give him a sloppy kiss on the cheek 'thank you uncle Gibbs for looking after me and letting me build your boat' he chuckled 'any time sweetheart' he set her down and nodded at Tony 'thanks boss' he said as Ziva scooped her up murmuring to her in Hebrew gently 'any time Tony, I enjoyed having her help'_

_He watched the family mover up the stairs and Tali had finally realised how tired she was, was leaning her head on her mommy's shoulder as she was carried up the stairs, she looked down at her uncle and waved sleepily, and with a smile he waved back._

He looked at the beam that they had stood and sanded that night, after that she had often come to his house if her parents were running late or they wanted to go on a date, she was intrigued by how he built it and once the sanding was done and they moved on to the more fiddly jobs she was happy to sit and chatter to him and hand him his tools.

Together he and Tali had built this boat; he had made a lot of things for her including her crib in which he had engraved her name into the side. He smiled as he looked at it, after years of work it would be finished soon, he hoped.

XOXOXOXOXO

He woke up lying on the boat, he groaned, and then pulled himself to his feet, he showered quickly before grabbing some clothes and heading to the hospital, Tony and Ziva were not in their room, and he didn't need many guesses to guess where they would be.

He went to ICU and sure enough he found them with Tali, they were talking to her gently willing her to pull through, he listened as Tony talked "hey ninja" he was saying softly "I love you, and I am so proud of you, I cant believe how lucky I am to have a daughter as brilliant and as wonderful as you, you really are the best, I was scared when I learned I was going to be a father, I mean ask anyone I am not the most responsible person you will meet now am I " he smiled and stroked Tali's cheek "but when I first held you after you were born, I wasn't scared any more, it was as though all my fears were wiped away, I wasn't scared, I was proud, proud that I had the most beautiful daughter on the planet, and it has been an honour to watch you grow up and a privilege to be your father"

He paused "when we were in that cell you told me something, something that meant so much to me you don't understand how much it meant to me ninja, you told me I was your hero, I am proud to be your hero baby girl and I am just sorry that I didn't protect you like a hero should" he stopped then and his grip around Ziva tightened, she had tears running down her cheeks, but not tears of pain, they were tears of happiness and love, she leaned against her husband before whispering to their daughter "I was scared when I realised I was pregnant Tali, I wasn't scared of being a mom though, I was scared of letting my child down, I was scared that I would not be able to cope with having a child, but you changed my fears, you were perfect, a child made for us, and you cant let go now tateleh, I cant loose you, I have lost so many people in my past I would not be able to cope with loosing you too, my darling"

Their pleas to their daughter were so loving and so heart felt it brought tears to his eyes, he slipped in then and greeted them "no change" he asked with a heavy heart, they shook their heads "but she seems to be getting stronger" Tony said hopefully "so maybe, maybe soon" he nodded and then noticed Ziva was wearing jeans and a loose top "you been discharged Ziver" he asked, she nodded "at 0900" she said "but I am staying here" she added almost defiantly, "I would expect nothing less he said with a smile.

He looked over at Tony and was surprised to see that he was frowning, "what is wrong DiNozzo" he asked but Tony put a finger to his lips, they all fell into silence and listened, that was when they heard it;

Rasping breath in, rattling breath out

Rasping breath in, rattling breath out

Rasping breath in, rattling breath out

They all looked at the girl in the bed, the pump that was previously forcing air in and out of her lungs was not still, the beeping on the monitors became louder

Rasping breath in, rattling breath out

Rasping breath in, rattling breath out

Rasping breath in, rattling breath out

Again and again, this happened and they stared, all of them with tears in their eyes as, Tali fought, forcing herself to breathe, battling to survive "oh my god" Ziva whispered "Tali, you are doing it" she sobbed in delight "that is it tateleh you are doing it don't stop now" Tony was hugging her, tears of joy running down his face.

Gibbs shouted for Dr Stevens, who came running along with some nurses, they all stared in amazement "oh my" one nurse breathed "I cant believe it, she has done it" they all ran over and began to check her over, Tony and Ziva moved out of the way, both now crying with delight, Dr Stevens looked at them and then beckoned to them, "come call her talk to her see if you can wake her" instantly they were there calling out to her, telling her how much they missed her and wanted her back, Gibbs stared at his goddaughter's face, his eyes widened as he saw her eyes lids flicker briefly.

_It is getting harder and harder to fight, I am so tired, it would be nice to just stop fighting, to relax, to let go, but a part of me screams 'no Tali you have to fight, not for you for your family' yes I need to fight for Ima and Aba, I manage to pull air into my lungs once, twice and then exhausted I cannot continue and it is done for me, I know that I have to do it myself though so I keep on trying._

_I can hear people talking to me, my Ima and my Aba, they are telling me how much they love me and how proud they are of me, I can't let them down. There are other people who care for me too, Uncle Gibbs, Uncle McGee and Aunt Abby and Grandpa Ducky too, they all want me to pull though, I am hurting them while I lie here. I here my Ima say 'I cannot loose you, I have lost so many people in my past, I would not be able to cope with loosing you to my darling' I don't want to cause her pain she is my Ima, my mom. _

_I have fresh determination now, I pull air in and force it out, again, and again and again, I focus solely on that in, out, in, out, until it comes naturally to me suddenly, suddenly I hear my mom sobbing 'Tali you are doing it, that is it tateleh you are doing it don't stop now' I don't stop, I continue to make sure I breathe, I hear people moving around and then my parents again 'Tali' my dad says 'hey ninja can you hear us, if you can it is time to wake up now' 'come on' my mother says desperately 'you are doing so well baby girl it is time to wake up and get back on the donkey'_

_I sighed and tried to open my eyes still my mom hadn't got that one, she really needed to learn that one at least. _

'_The term is get back on the horse Ima'_

_I forced my eyes open_

**Hope you like it, I know it is quite short but I thought that would be a nice place to finish so hopefully you will all review to try and make me update sooner hehe.**

**Please let me know what you think**

**Please review, lots of reviews = happy me = sooner update**

**Also if anyone wants a specific story, check out my profile and see if I know the show, or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give it a go.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	22. Chapter 22 Opening Her Eyes

**Wow love all the reviews, glad you are all happy that Tali is waking up, don't think I will do many chapters after this I am afraid, but on the plus side I will start the sequel, **

**Hope you like it **

Chapter 22 - Opening Her Eyes

'_The term is get back on the __horse__ Ima'_

_I forced my eyes open_

Tony was just about to correct Ziva when a small voice from the bed beat him to it, he and Ziva looked down in time to see Tali's eyelids flutter open to reveal her beautiful, spellbindingly powerful gaze, that made them both sob in delight, oh how he had missed that gaze, it was like looking into a mirror, seeing those eyes glinting cheekily.

As Tali forced her eyes open she was delighted to see her parents leaning over her with joy in their eyes. "Tali" Ziva breathed "Boker Tov Ima" (hello mother) Tali whispered, with a sob Ziva leant forward and hugged her daughter gently but firmly, Tali weakly lifted her arms and placed them round her mother's neck, hugging her back, looking over her shoulder she saw her dad and uncle Gibbs watching, both with tears in their eyes.

The doctors carefully pushed Ziva out of the way and encouraged her to leave the room so that they could check Tali over and make sure she was breathing ok. Tony caught hold of Ziva and carefully tugged her out of the room, followed by Gibbs. Once outside Ziva turned and wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed again, but this time they were tear of joy, Tony hugged her back, it was as though a huge weight had been removed from his shoulders, his little ninja was finally awake, now he knew she would be fine. They watched through the window as the doctors carefully examined their daughter, Gibbs called Abby and had to hold the phone away from his ear, she was screaming in delight so loud _'oh my gosh' _they heard her shriek _'she is breathing ok, she is awake, oh my gosh it all happened so fast, MCGEE, get the car NOW, we will be right there Gibbs, MCGEE come ON lets go' _smiling Gibbs hung up and looked at Tony and Ziva.

The two parents were standing watching their daughter get examined delight in their eyes, they had obviously been listening to Abby because Tony was struggling not to laugh and Ziva had an amused look on her face as he rested her head on Tony's shoulder, Tali was sitting patiently allowing the team of doctors and nurses to examine her, throughout it all unless asked something she gazed at her parents through the glass as though making sure that they were not going anywhere now she was awake.

They heard the elevator ding and looked over to see Abby once again sprinting towards them, McGee trailing behind her looking rather embarrassed, "oh my where is she" Abby squealed causing everyone to look at her, she spotted the girl in the bed and let out a shriek, Tali looked up and grinned at her aunt, before waving, Abby waved back excitedly, just as McGee arrived "nice of you to finally join us McSlow" Tony teased, the younger agent scowled but his face softened at the sight of Tali awake.

The doctors came out and Dr Stevens came to talk to them "she seems ok" he said "but she is going to stay here until tomorrow before being moved to trauma, she will have to stay for at least a week, more likely two, it is probable best that even after that she goes on bed rest and stays off her feet, and no hard exercise for at least two months, she may have problems breathing for a while and her back will pain her too, I am afraid to say she will always have scars now" they all looked at her, she was sitting facing them watching the doctor talk to them whilst the nurse Jackie checked her back. She winced and Ziva wanted to go in and stop the nurse examining her but she knew it was for the best.

The doctor talked to them for a while telling them how to care for her, until finally the nurse left and he allowed them in to see her. Gibbs held Abby back "let her see her mom and dad Abs" he said gently as she looked at him indignantly, she nodded and they watched through the window.

Tony entered the room with Ziva right behind him; Tali looked up as they approached her face brightening, he moved slowly forward hardly daring to believe it, he thought she would have died, it wasn't that he had no faith in her it was just her wounds were so bad and she was so exhausted, "hey" Tali whispered "hey ninja" he whispered back, she cocked her head to one side and then held out her arms as she had as a child "hug" she commanded and with a watery laugh Tony bent forward and pulled her into his arms gripping her sides to avoid her back, she hugged him tightly burying her head into his shoulders, she looked up a moment later with her father and then they both held out one arm and with a smile Ziva leant forward and joined in this family hug, they held each other tightly, finally reunited. Together at last.

The door opened and Abby shot in, Tony and Ziva moved out the way as with a squeal of "TAAAAALLLLIIIIIIII" she hugged the child, calling out her name stretching every syllable of her name, Tali giggled gently hugging her favourite aunt back, "sorry" Gibbs said as he entered with McGee "couldn't hold her back any longer, he waited until Abby finally released the girl before moving forward for his hug, "hey Uncle Gibbs" she said as he wrapped his arms around her "hey shortcake" he whispered he pulled back to look at her, she looked at him oddly at this new nickname, but didn't comment, "I am so proud of you sweetheart" he said gently, she grinned happily at him, he kissed her on the cheek before allowing McGee to hug her.

Once he stepped back they all looked at her, her eyes travelled from one face to another "what" she asked "nothing, we are all just glad that you are awake" Tony said hugging her again

They stayed for as long as they could again, Ziva was grumpy that she could not spend the night in ICU with her, so when the nurse came round to give her the evening painkillers, which would send her into the much needed sleep, they all kissed her and left, "I will be just downstairs if you need me" Ziva promised as she hugged her, Tali nodded and then lay down her eyes drooping, a few seconds later they heard a sigh of "Layla Tov" (goodnight) and then she was asleep "she is out like a candle" Ziva noted "out like a _light_ Zee" Tony corrected "I am not surprised, she has been fighting to breathe whilst unconscious I don't think she has stopped fighting since before she was taken the first time" Ziva nodded Tali had remained on edge after she had returned, this was the first time she looked completely peaceful.

They went back down to Tony's room where they were informed that Tony would be released the next evening, happily Ziva clambered onto his bed with him ignoring the nurses who gave her disapproving looks and closed her eyes, then for the first time in weeks they drifted off into a relaxed and happy sleep, hoping that they would soon be out of the woods.

XOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs arrived at the hospital, he had to go to work afterwards, again Tony's room was empty and much to his surprise when he went to ICU so was Tali's, he asked the Nurse Jackie where she was and she told him that Tali had been moved down to trauma recovery now where she would remain "I still cant believe she made it" she told him "I have seen strong healthy people with similar bullet wounds die, and they hadn't had their back torn open" Gibbs smiled "our Tali is stronger than your average person" he said proudly, she told him her room number and he went down to find her parents sitting there talking happily to her while she ate her breakfast, she grinned when she spotted her godfather "uncle Gibbs" she exclaimed "what are you doing here so early" he laughed and kissed her forehead "I have to go to work" he explained, "I wanted to make sure you were ok before I went as I think everyone is going to want an update" he smiled at her "your going to have to help me finish my boat" he said "it is so close now" she grinned and nodded "yeah I'd like that".

After promising to pop in later he left for work where as expected he was bombarded by requests for news on the DiNozzo family, he smiled, they were a family that you noticed the absence of, Tony with his pranks, Ziva with her ninja reactions to everything and Tali was just such a bundle of joy you couldn't help but love her.

Nothing eventful happened and he went back to the hospital that evening to find Tony dress in his own clothes signing some papers, when he looked up and saw them he grinned and opened his arms and did a cheeky twirl "haha look at me I am back" Abby squealed in delight and launched herself at him hugging him tightly, Gibbs and McGee groaned "no more peace" McGee said looking crestfallen, Tony chuckled "expect my worst when I return McGoogle"

Tali was sleeping when they arrived "they had to give her a scan that required them to put her under" Tony said brushing hair out of her face "where's Ziva" Abby asked looking for her friend "having her leg checked out just down the hall" Tony said, Abby went to see her friend, McGee followed her and Gibbs said that he needed more coffee. So Tony found himself alone in the room with his little girl, he smiled at her peaceful face, feeling relaxed.

"Tony"?

He froze, he knew that voice, slowly he turned and stared at the person standing in the doorway to Tali's hospital bedroom, he sighed "long time no see" he said softly

**So who did Tony see, you can choose I was thinking either**

**Jeanne **

**His father**

**If you have any suggestions let me know**

**Tell me what you think and who he sees, I'm thinking Jeanne, have some jealousy around. **

**Hope you like it, let me know**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	23. Chapter 23 Unexpected Visitors

**Wow thanks for all the reviews I am so pleased I got over 100, yay, thanks to those who got me into the triple digits.**

**Got mixed requests from people, so decided to do both, Jeanne first though, hope that is ok**

**Hope you like it**

Chapter 23 -

_So Tony found himself alone in the room with his little girl, he smiled at her peaceful face, feeling relaxed._

"_Tony"?_

_He froze, he knew that voice, slowly he turned and stared at the person standing in the doorway to Tali's hospital bedroom, he sighed "long time no see" he said softly_

He stared at the woman in the doorway, she hadn't changed at all same, hair, same eyes, same scrubs, different reaction to seeing him though, shock rather than hate, well it had been about 15 years, "hey Jeanne" he said.

Jeanne Benoit stared at him "what are you doing here Tony" she asked, Tony stood and moved towards her away from Tali "I could ask you the same question" he said "I thought you left DC" she stared at him "I wanted to come back, I missed it here, why are you here Tony" she asked again, "just got released this morning" he said, "I was shot in the side" he frowned "thought you would have known that it was all over the news" she shook her head "this is my first day back, I flew in late last night" he nodded, looking at her hard, "how have you been" he asked awkwardly when there was silence, the Jeanne he remembered reappeared "don't pretend to care Tony" she hissed "it was all fake, all of it" she glared at him he didn't respond "it was wasn't it" she said then uncertainly "you never loved me".

Tony sighed "I don't know Jeanne, I didn't know ok, it was complicated and there was someone else who I thought I was in love with too" 'who I knew I was in love with' he thought, she glared at him "I loved you" she then said softly and her harsh domineer changed to a more gentle one, Tony shifted uncomfortably, as she gazed at him with her very piercing eyes.

He didn't know how he had felt about Jeanne, he still didn't, it was true, he had always loved Ziva, but there had been times when he had doubted that it would ever happen and had thought about moving on, he had been with Jeanne one of those time and had tried to switch his love to her, there had been a spark, but no fireworks like with Ziva. What he had told Ziva in the cell was true, he doubted he had ever loved Jeanne, he had just got in to deep, and it had been a shock to pull out, but Ziva had been there for him when he had pulled out and he realised that he couldn't love another the way he loved her.

Just them from behind there was a small sigh and then a whisper of "daddy" from the bed and he turned instantly, Tali was stirring and her eyelids fluttering gently, he heard Jeanne gasp from behind him, but he ignored her, he bent to her level "hey ninja how you feeling" he whispered, she sighed and looked at him with her gold eyes "ok" she mumbled "my back still hurts, and I'm tired" "rest then little ninja" he said kissing her forehead, she closed her eyes again. He turned to see Jeanne's face, she stared at Tali in shock "daddy" she whispered, she looked at him and there was anger in her eyes, "you're a daddy" she said, he nodded, now she was the Jeanne he remembered possessive and clingy "yeah" he said "she is my daughter".

Jeanne stared at Tali "how long" she whispered "12 years" Tony responded, Jeanne glared, "glad you moved on" she retorted, and Tony winced, yep that was Jeanne "what the hell happened to her" Jeanne exclaimed, "she was kidnapped" Tony responded coldly at her tone "twice, her mother and I were taken the second time too, they beat her, whipped her, burned her and tried to kill her, shot her in the chest" Jeanne looked at him "her mother" she said sounding disappointed, maybe she was hoping her mother was out of the picture "who is her mother Tony", he was just about to respond when Ziva came limping into the room followed by Abby and McGee "Tony, how is" she began but stopped when she saw Jeanne "oh" she said in surprise "Jeanne" she said coolly , Abby gasped and McGee muttered "awkward".

"Jeanne you remember Ziva don't you" Tony said taking Ziva's hand, "she was my partner, now she is my wife and Tali's mother" Jeanne glared at Ziva who raised her eyebrows in almost amusement at the hatred on the woman's face "figured that you would end up going for her Tony" she said spitefully, "hey" Tony said sharply his grip on Ziva's hand tightening "don't talk about her like that Jeanne, remember what I said earlier about being in love with another woman, well it was Ziva it has always been and always will be Ziva" he felt Ziva squeeze his hand, they heard "Ima" from the bed and Ziva turned to her daughter who had woken because of all the commotion "whats going on" Tali mumbled "nothing Tateleh" Ziva reassured and began to speak to her in Hebrew, to which she responded, she looked at Jeanne and then spoke again, to which Ziva responded carefully, Tali cocked her head to one side and sat up in the bed before looking curiously at Jeanne again who glared at her, Tali frowned at the cold treatment before suddenly glaring back, her usually soft golden eyes turning into a hard fiery glare back.

At that moment Gibbs walked in with a number of coffee cups, he raised his eyebrows as he entered and felt the tension in the room, everyone appeared to be glaring at a nurse who had he back to him, as he entered thought she turned and he stopped in surprise "well well Miss Benoit didn't expect to ever see you again", she glared at him before turning back to Tony "you know Tony _DiNardo_ you ruined my life, I am glad you found it easy to move on because I never did" Tony scowled "oh yeah don't you think it was hard for me to move on after you accused me of murdering your father", Gibbs looked at Tali, she seemed to have picked up that no one liked Jeanne and was defensive, she looked at her daddy in confusion, she wiggled over to where he was standing and placed her hand in his, he squeezed it and looked at her, he visibly calmed down and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, hugging her to him protectively.

"I think you should leave Jeanne" Tony said "my family has been through enough these past few weeks and Tali has only just woken up, she needs to rest", Jeanne looked at the girl hugged against her fathers chest "she was whipped, beaten, burned and shot hey Tony" she said nastily "surely her father should protect her from all that"

"get out" Ziva snapped standing up and glaring at Jeanne, Tony was staring at her with a shocked and hurt look on his face, Jeanne turned on her "and you" she said "what kind of mother are you, ex Mossad and you cant protect your own child" Ziva moved forward but Tony caught hold of her pulling her into his arms, Ziva was snarling something in Hebrew, probably curses, Tali glared at her "yatsa" she commanded, Jeanne looked at her "get out" Ziva translated breathing heavily, "leave my family alone, it is not their fault I am like this, but it is thanks to them I am alive, I love my family, it is not for you to judge them, Miss Benoit, so please leave" Tali said defending her family "I think that as she is a patient here she can ask you for something" Gibbs said as Jeanne looked like she was about to turn on her "and she is asking for you to leave, we all are" Jeanne glared at them all, finally at Tony who stood with his family, grouped together against this new threat "go to hell Tony" she hissed "all of you can go to hell" and with that she stormed out, Gibbs carefully shut the door after her.

Tony groaned and sat on the edge of the bed, slowly Ziva did too, Tali knelt next to them looking at them in worry, she then crawled round them until she was in between them and wrapped her arms around them, she hugged them tightly "ignore them Aba ve Ima" (mom and dad) she begged "she knows nothing about us, why should she be able to judge what you could and couldn't do" "Tali is right Tony, Ziver" Gibbs said "do not listen to her, forget all about that, Tony you are out of hospital, as are you Ziver and Tali is on the way to recovery, why should you be sad" "yeah" Tali said, Tony smiled at his daughter and then carefully pulled her into his lap "hug" he commanded as she did, giggling she hugged him, Ziva joined in, then the three on them looked up at their team, their family and opened their arms, with a smile Gibbs, Abby and McGee joined in the family hug, where they remained for a while, one big happy, if not definitely dysfunctional family.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Two weeks later and Tali was going to be released, on the condition that she remained on bed rest until the doctors gave the ok, she was a bit miffed but had agreed mainly because she wanted to get out of the hospital. They had not seen Jeanne again, only from a distance, every time she saw one of them she would sprint off in the opposite direction scowling at them as she did so. They had given a very confused Tali the story of what had happened with her and she was outraged that she had tried to get her daddy, her hero locked up for murder.

Ziva was helping her daughter pack her stuff, the doctor was standing instructing them on how to treat her, Tony's arms were full of medicine, which he stared at worried, that was a lot to remember, the doctor saw his worried face and with a smile pulled out a pad and wrote it all down for him "thanks" Tony said in relief and the doctor smiled before going over to check Tali's back over one last time, Tony read over the instructions he had been given as Ziva relieved him of all the boxes and placed them in the bag. He raised one arm and automatically wrapped it around Ziva when she leant against him, he pushed the paper into his pocket.

They watched as Tali patiently waited for her examination to be completed, she answered the doctors questions on how painful certain areas were, the main place seemed to be her left shoulder where the biggest scar stretched started, the doctor did seem quite worried about that scar but he didn't voice his fears.

He had just finished and they were waiting for Gibbs who had offered to drive them home when a voice said almost tentatively "Anthony", Tony frowned the only person who called that was Ducky and … he spun round and stared at the man in the doorway, seriously what was with all the people from his past appearing suddenly.

"Dad" he said in amazement, Ziva's head snapped up, as did Tali's, they all stared at Anthony DiNozzo Senior who stood in the door, he stared at them all "miss Ziva" he said in surprise "what are you doing here" she blinked at him "its Mrs now Mr DiNozzo, I married you son and I am here for my daughter" "huh" he said looking at Tony who didn't seem to be able to speak "his kid is your kid" Tony glared "yeah dad, Ziva is our daughters mother, got a problem with that" "no Junior not at all I just thought Miss Ziva would settle down with someone more…" he paused "say it" Tony growled "someone more I don't know worthy of her" Tony glared "what do you want" he snapped, his father gazed at him calmly "I heard on the news that my granddaughter was kidnapped along with you and Miss Ziva and I came to make sure you were all alright" "yeah" Tony said "you didn't hear on the news that Ziva was a DiNozzo too" he growled "don't pretend to care dad", his father looked at him "I think we need to talk Junior" "You think" Tony growled, he then sighed and looked at Tali who was watching him, he touched his daughters shoulder gently "back in a minute ninja just got to talk to …. Your grandfather", he then grabbed his fathers arm and dragged him into the hall shutting the door behind him.

"what do you want" he snapped once in the hall "I told you" his father began but he cut him off "yeah right dad, I told you that I had a daughter when she was in the hospital after being born, I told you and you never came, you ignored her, you never even acknowledged that you knew about her, I sent you loads of letters, and I haven't heard from you until today. She is 12 dad 12, and this is the first time she has met her grandfather, that is not right, 12 years, you never sent her a birthday card a Christmas present, nothing" Tony's father didn't appear to be listening, his eyes wondered as if bored, they came to a rest on Tali "is that her" he interrupted, Tony glared at him in frustration "no dad that is just some random child I thought I'd comfort, yeah of course that is her"

"Watch your tone Junior" he said sharply "I am here now that is the main thing isn't it, now I can meet her" "why should I mind my tone, why should I let you meet her" Tony hissed "you didn't think I'd be pissed that after 12 years you just waltz in and want to meet her" "she is my granddaughter I think I have the right to meet her" Anthony Senior said "I think you lost that right when you decided you couldn't be assed to come and meet your only granddaughter when she was born, do you even know her name, her full name" Tony snapped, "look Junior" his father said "I regret not coming down I really do, I know I have made mistakes in my life and I want to amend for them Tony, and when I heard about what happened to you and your kid I knew that now was the time to ask for forgiveness"

Tony looked at his father thinking hard, he looked over his shoulder, Ziva was leaning on the doorframe watching obviously trying to make sure nothing got heated, he looked at Tali who sat on the edge of the bed watching him, her face was unreadable. "let me see if she wants to meet you" Tony said and slipped back into her room, with Ziva, "hey ninja" he said "he wants to meet you" Tali raised her eyebrows "now" she said sceptically, Tony nodded "do you want to meet him, it is up to you ninja"

Tali thought, she didn't know much about either of her grandfathers, her dad had always said that they were better off without his father, he would do nothing for her, she looked at her dad, there was something in his eyes, regret? Her mom had told her that they hadn't had the best relationship when he was younger, but it had got better briefly and her dad had been happy, then it had gone downhill again the year before she was born, she said that after he didn't respond to the news of her birth her dad had decided that he wouldn't bother trying to make things right, so he had stopped trying. She loved her daddy very much and hated to think of how she would feel if their relationship went the same way.

"I'll meet him, briefly" she said "just to see what he is really like, then can I decide if I want to see him again" she asked, Tony nodded "it's up to you ninja, your choice, he's your grandfather" Tali looked at him "he's your father" she pointed out "don't be such a wise ass" he said pulling her into a hug, making her giggle "do you want us in or wait outside" he asked, she thought "outside" she said, she seemed uncertain though, her dad had told her that her grandfather was an abusive alcoholic, "we will be just outside" he promised, he touched her cheek and then left followed by Ziva, his father looked at him "and" he asked "she says she will meet you now, you have until Gibbs gets here, unless she says otherwise" Tony said shortly. He took Ziva's hand and gripped it tightly as he watched his father, the man he had grown up pretty much hating walk into his daughter's room and shut the door.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Tali looked up as she heard him enter, she eyed him uncertainly, he looked her up and down before moving forward and offering her his hand "hello" he said awkwardly, Tali shook his hand cautiously "Tali isn't it" he checked, she nodded "interesting name" he commented "short for Talia" Tali said "it was the name of my Mom's little sister, she died when she was 16" "oh" he said "pretty name" he said, "tell me Tali, tell me about yourself" Tali looked at him long and hard before replying "I am very lucky", her grandfather frowned at her "why is that" he asked.

Tali smiled "because I have the best dad in the whole world" he raised his eyebrows "Junior" he said looking out the window where his son was standing "he is a good father" he said in surprise, Tali nodded "the best" she said again "huh, he lets you get away with a lot I'll bet, your mom more the stricter parent" "well actually, he is firm about stuff" Tali said "he is very protective of me, but very fun" she said, "huh" he said again.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Tali said "can I ask you a question" he looked at her in surprise "I suppose" he said, Tali looked at him with her fathers eyes "why did you let your relationship with my dad go, he is your only child isn't he, why just let that go, I would hate to loose my dad" he looked at her "it's complicated" he said but Tali shook her head "I don't think it is" she said "I mean he lost his mom when you lost your wife, why did you loose your son and make him loose his dad, it wasn't his fault, my mom said that when you mended your relationship briefly he was happy and then after I was born you never contacted him again" she looked at him "was it because of me" she asked, he looked at her hard "how old are you again" he asked "12" Tali said, "huh" he said again "intelligent for her age" he muttered "no it wasn't because of you, I was in a bad place at that time and I just didn't want to be a father, and I regret that I pushed him away" Tali looked at him "if you could would you change that" she asked, he nodded "I let my relationship with my son go after my wife died because he reminded me to much of her, she was the one who wanted a child, not me and then I was left with an 8 year old son to raise, he looked like her, especially in the eyes" he stared at her for a minute "you have her eyes too" he commented

Tali looked at him for a long minute, before he asked "why child does my son call you 'ninja' it is a slightly odd nickname don't you think" Tali smiled "because I am his little ninja" she said "I can kick ass like my mom he says, I like it really" again he nodded "take after your mom then" Tali shrugged "apparently I am a mix of them both" she said. She looked at him curiously again "why didn't you try to repair your relationship before now" she asked, he shrugged "left it so long I figured he was doing ok without me" Tali shook her head in amazement "it would have been nice to meet you before now" she said, he eyed her "you are your fathers daughter" he said "untrusting and a grudge holder", Tali looked at him sharply "I have never met you before" she exclaimed "how can I hold a grudge on someone I never met, and actually I learned to be careful who you trust from my mom"

He looked over his shoulder again, Tali saw her dad glaring at him "he holds a grudge" her grandfather pointed out "yeah well I would if I was ignored in my childhood and he ignored the birth of my child" Tali said shortly, he stared at her "I see he hasn't taught you to mind your manners" he said "let you grow wild" Tali shook her head exasperated "yeah sure the ex Mossad mom who grew up free and could fight from birth like me had nothing to do with it" she said, she could see why her dad didn't like him, he was harsh and rather uncaring, he then sighed "look kid, I want to make what I did in the past right and I know I have done you wrong, I am not asking for much, I am not asking you to accept my apology but just know that I am sorry this is the first time we met" she looked at him but didn't respond, there was a tap on the window and she looked up to see her uncle Gibbs watching her grandfather rather coldly "what is he doing here" her grandfather asked "he is my godfather and he became my grandfather when no one else seemed to want to be it" he sighed "I take it you don't forgive me"

Tali slid of the bed and picked up her bag before looking at him "you have done nothing to me" she said "there is nothing for me to forgive you for, but I know what you did to my dad and I am not going to forgive you for what you did to him, it is not for me to forgive, but if he accepts your apology that I suggest you offer him and he lets you back into his life then I too will no longer bare you a grudge" he looked at her incredulously, she was a smart little child for her age.

She went to the door and put her hand on the handle before looking at him "I think my father would like an apology" she said "I do not know if he will forgive you but at least you can say you tried" then she opened the door and left the room. Anthony DiNozzo Sr watched his granddaughter as she left the room, she ran at her dad and he scooped her up and hugged her tightly, she hugged him tightly back, he stroked the back of her head smoothing her hair and then looked into the room, his father nodded at him and after a moments hesitation Tony nodded back, he kept his daughter in his arms and his wife bent to pick up the bag that she had dropped, he looked at Gibbs who was watching him, his face unreadable, then slowly he turned and they all left the hospital, leaving him sitting there pondering the advice he had been given by a 12 year old.

**Hope you liked it**

**Did both as I had requests for both, quite a long chapter. I will let you know that I have been doing this story since April and I have written 100 pages, I am amazed, my longest yet, not many more chapters unless anyone has a good idea that they would like me to try, happy to hear them.**

**Please let me know what you think**

**Please review, lots of reviews = happy me = sooner update**

**Also if anyone wants a specific story, check out my profile and see if I know the show, or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give it a go.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	24. Chapter 24 Rest and Recuperation

**Thanks for all the reviews, I am glad you like it, I think this is my favourite story, as you can probably guess by the fact that I update it the most, is planning a sequel and have written the longest chapters for it, I am very glad that you all like it, I think though I will try proper writing, a real story rather than a fanfic, one of my favourite authors (Christopher Paolini) wrote his first book (Eragon) when he was 15 (my age) so might as well give it a go.**

**Well anyway, will finish this soon, I will give the sequel a go as promised, I am already drafting it.**

**Hope you like it.**

Chapter 24 – Rest and Recuperation

Gibbs drove the family home watching them in the mirror as he did so, Tali was leaning against her father eyes closed she looked very content, Ziva was stroking her hair gazing at her daughter in delight, and amazement that she was still alive. He stopped outside their apartment and helped them up carrying their bags so Ziva could hold open the door for Tony who had Tali in his arms, she was protesting that she was fine and could walk but her ankle was still tightly strapped up and she had been told to stay off her feet, once in the apartment Tony carefully set her down on the sofa "stay" he said firmly making Gibbs smile when he remembered saying that to his team once.

Tali scowled at him but remained where she was "thanks boss" Tony said turning to look at him as he stood in the doorway "no problem Tony", he bent to say goodbye to Tali, she looked up at him "now you get better sweetheart, stay off that ankle and then you can come see the boat" she nodded "is it nearly done" she asked "so close" he promised, she grinned and then held out her arms "hug" she commanded, it seemed to have become her little catchphrase, chuckling he bent lower and hugged her gently, "see you soon shortcake" he whispered, she smiled at him, nobody questioned him about calling her that, they had accepted it as her new nickname though where it came from they didn't know, nobody knew.

Gibbs straightened up "have the week off DiNozzos I think you all need some time together, to rest and have some quality time together, Tony make sure Tali and Ziva stay off their feet, Ziva no running" "Gibbs" she complained "make sure Tony doesn't do anything stupid Ziver, like he usually does, Tali" she looked at him "don't let them try to come into work or anything" she grinned and gave a little mock salute as Abby did "yes sir" she said, he chuckled before leaving them to rest and recuperate.

XOXOXOXOXO

Tony smiled happily as he settled into the sofa with his family, he had persuaded them to watch the Bond movies after a handful of other movies, Ziva had protested at first "they are not very realistic" she said "aww Zee in what way" he complained, she had pointed a few things out about the opening fight scene of _Casino Royale,_ he glared at her "thanks for ruining James Bond for me Zee" he grumbled and then pulled her close settling in with her.

He was lying on the sofa with Ziva lying next to him her head on his shoulder, Tali was lying on top of him her head on his chest as she gazed at the movie on the screen watching it interested. Tony ended up not watching the movie, he watched his family, he had one arm wrapped around Ziva playing gently with her hair, the other hand was resting on Tali's head his thumb gently rubbing her cheek, softly, Ziva was holding her daughter's hand gripping it as she watched her baby girl, her other hand was playing with his hair, she looked up and smiled at him, he kissed her forehead gently, when the movie ended Tali rolled over to find her parents watching her "what" she said annoyed "nothing" Tony said "just cant believe how lucky we are and that you are still alive after having me as your daddy" Ziva laughed "I think everyone is quite surprised about that Tony" he grumbled at her and then grinned, Tali rolled her eyes at her parents antics but she was well used to that by now.

It was late before Tony finally noticed the time "whoa it's late, time for bed little ninja" he said "but I'm not tired" she whined, "does not matter" he said and Tali smiled as she thought of how her grandfather thought her dad was not the strong strict parent, in fact he was probably the strictest, her mom probably let her get away with more.

She squealed as her dad scooped her up and began to carry her to her room "no, no fair" she giggled "I cant walk no fair" "and that is why it is so easy little ninja" Tony said almost dancing with her over his shoulder to her room "oh cant I sleep with you" she said and repeated her favourite technique of getting what she wanted as he lay her on her bed, pouting her lip and widening her eyes, gazing at him beseechingly "oh don't turn the charm on" Tony whined looking away before glancing down at her "Ziva, YOUR daughter wants to rest her weary head with us tonight" Ziva came in with a glass of water and the medication Tali had to take before she went to bed "oh so she is MY daughter when she wants something" "yep" Tony sad as he still refused to look at her as she was still using the 'charm', she took the medication and then hauled herself up to hug her daddy.

"ok all right I give" he grumbled and Tali giggled in delight as he gave her a piggy back ride to their bedroom and lay her on the middle of the bed, she shifted around making herself comfortable whilst they changed for bed then she lay her head on her daddy's chest as he lay down "well played" he said grudgingly stroking her hair softly as Ziva snuggled in resting her hand on her daughters side.

That was how they fell asleep that night. Together.

XOXOXOXO

Gibbs stopped by their house the next morning on his way to work, he had a key to their apartment so he let himself in and raised his eyebrows at the state of their living room, pizza boxes littered the floor along with bottles of drink and crisp packets and everything, there was a pile of DVD's lying next to the TV and he smiled, they had obviously unable to do anything else watched movies all day. He saw the door to Tony and Ziva's room lying half open and he crept over and poked his head inside, he smiled at the three of them lying there asleep together, Tali cuddled up to her daddy, Ziva protectively resting on hand on her daughters side, Tony embracing them both.

Ziva shifted and then bolted upright "Gibbs" she growled "you are so lucky I don't sleep with a gun anymore" he chuckled and slipped into the room, she raised her eyebrows "just checking you are all ok" he said, he then looked at her "when did you stop sleeping with a gun" he asked, Ziva shifted sheepishly "when Tali started to wonder into our room in the night" he chuckled, while she continued to look sheepish "after the first time, Tony begged me to put the gun in my drawer, Tali wasn't fazed though, she kept coming in" he laughed softly "do you need me to bring you anything" "no we should be fine Gibbs thanks, we have been ordering food" he nodded "I saw by the tip that was once your living room" Ziva smiled "well call me if you need anything Ziver" he said, he looked at Tali, curled up happily against her ' daddy's chest "she looks better" he commented, Ziva smiled "she is, used the 'charm' last night, completely won her daddy over" Gibbs chuckled "I have to go now Ziver, call if you need anything" she nodded and then settled down back into Tony's arms as a happy family once again.

XOXOXO

The week passed quickly and soon they had to go back to work, the doctors had cleared this but told them not to go out in the field which neither of them were happy about, Tali had to remain off school though, her ankle was now only tightly bandaged, it had been a clean break, meaning it would heal faster. Her back was slowly getting better though she was still on very strong painkillers, they could now touch her back without fear of making her leap a mile in pain.

So Monday morning found them all in the elevator Tali on her dad's back, she had begun to enjoy being piggy backed everywhere when they tried to keep her off her feet which with a ninja 12 year old it wasn't an easy job. The elevator doors dinged open and they all walked out, there was a squeal and then Abby came lunging forward and threw her arms around the three of them, Tony and Ziva laughed and hugged her back "Tali" Abby shrieked in delight "hey there" Tali giggled from her daddy's back, Gibbs smiled as he came over to greet the rest of his team, he reached out and took Tali off Tony's back smiling as she hugged him, "Tony Ziva, desk duty starts now" he barked grumbling his two agents headed for their desks, he then turned to his goddaughter in his arms.

"hey shortcake, how's the ankle" she giggled "much better now uncle Gibbs I am allowed to walk now you know" he chuckled but didn't set her down just yet "you staying up here today" he asked and she nodded "stop my parents killing each other when they get ratty" everyone laughed, Gibbs saw Vance watching the family rejoin the team with a small smile on his face. Abby stayed in the bullpen chattering happily to Tali who sat in a chair giggling, Ducky appeared not to much later "ahh my dearest girl" he said holding out his arms as Tali leapt up and hobbled over to him "I am so sorry I couldn't visit you after you woke up in hospital, so many bodies to work on" she giggled "that is ok Ducky I don't mind" Ducky hugged the girl "well anyway I am glad you are ok, this reminds me of a case a few years back…" everyone groaned and was relieved when the phone rang cutting Ducky off.

"Gibbs" the team leader said, listening "ok, thanks will be there soon" he closed his phone and looked at his team "we got a body" he said "Ducky, get Palmer and the van" he handed his a piece of paper with the address "McGee, gear up, DiNozzos" he growled as the two agents half rose out of their chairs "sit" he said watching as they slowly sank into their chairs looking very grumpy, "stay" he ordered making them scowl and Tali laugh, he placed her in his chair and said "your in charge shortcake, make sure they do their work" "yes sir" she said with her mock salute. He smiled gave all three of his girls a kiss on the cheek and Tony a clap on the shoulder before he left with McGee.

XOXOXOXO

When he came back, Tony and Ziva looked extremely pissed at each other, Tali was watching them with a rather amused look on her face "hey shortcake" he said going over to her "how have the wolves been" he asked looking at them "well if mom could walk without a limp and dad's side didn't hurt so much I may have no parents as they would have killed each other by now" she joked, he laughed softly and then went "DiNozzos" loudly to get their attention "have you got anything for us" he asked, they quickly explained what they had, giving evidence to why their suspect currently waiting in interrogation probably killed their marine" "Gibbs" Ziva begged from where she was sitting at her desk, with Tali on her lap "can I interrogate him please" "Ziva what part of desk duty don't you understand"

Ziva looked at him beseechingly "come on, I will be sitting in interrogation, please I have been shackled to this desk all day" _"chained_ to this desk" everyone automatically corrected, and she growled, Gibbs looked at her, she was good at interrogation he had to admit, mainly because she scared the suspect out of their minds "fine" he said "but you stay sitting ok" she nodded gratefully and leapt up, she was healing, Gibbs could see now she only walked with a slight limp, it wouldn't be long before she was ready to go back in the field, Tony seemed ok, but had been put on desk duty for longer, it probably didn't help that he carried Tali everywhere but he seemed to enjoy doing that and being a good daddy to her. "well I now know where Tali gets the 'charm' from" Tony said, everyone looked at him "her mom, that look she gave you Gibbs, Tali gives to me and I cant help but give in" "doesn't help that you are a roll over" Ziva said with a smirk "_push_ over Zee and I am not" Tony said.

Tali's eyes sparkled and she wrapped her arms around his stomach, he looked at her "what do you want" he said, "point proved" Tali said with a grin "you're a push over" everyone laughed

**Hey guys hope you liked it, definitely not many more chapters now, but will start the sequel soon I promise.**

**Also I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a prequel? I was thinking Ziva pregnant, the birth in more detail and a few little snippets of the young Tali's life before this story. Let me know if you might fancy that, little bit of joy and love rather than pain and suffering.**

**Please let me know what you think**

**Please review, lots of reviews = happy me = sooner update**

**Also if anyone wants a specific story, check out my profile and see if I know the show, or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give it a go.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


	25. Chapter 25 Epilogue

**Thanks for all the reviews, now it pains me to say this but this is the last chapter of this story, I am so going to miss writing this and hearing what you think, so lots of reviews at the end please for the last time. But on the plus side, I can start the sequel! I have another idea for NCIS a Prequel, Tali before Out To Get You, will write at the end about that. **

**Well for the last time hope you like it.**

Chapter 25 - Epilogue

3 months later.

Gibbs shut his phone and stood up, "gear up" he barked "dead marine at Quantico" all three of his field agents leapt up grabbing their stuff and stuffing it into their bags, he smiled at them as Tony and Ziva playfully wrestled each other over whose turn it was to drive whilst McGee stood there looking like he was thinking 'neither of them please' the couples bickering was cut off as a small hand tugged the keys out of Tony's hand, making him stop and look around whilst a beautiful young girl slipped away and handed the keys to Gibbs who smiled "thanks shortcake" he said bending down "cant believe you are 13 tomorrow shortie" he smiled at the girl, whose golden eyes gleamed "not a kid anymore am I" she taunted before spinning and running over to her daddy and wrapping her arms around his stomach and giving him her charm, smiling sweetly so the frown he was giving her over taking the keys vanished as he smiled back "you are to cheeky for your own good ninja" he said "wait till she hits the teen years" Gibbs said as he passed "tomorrow" Tony groaned and Tali giggled.

"some time today would be nice" Gibbs called as he stood by the elevator waiting for his team, McGee jogged to his side and they watched as Tony and Ziva hugged their 12 year old daughter goodbye for the last time, tomorrow she would no longer be a child, but a teenager, she smiled at her parents, it had taken them all a while to recover from their adventure, Tali still sometimes woke up in the night crying out, but no one ever spoke of it, no one especially ever spoke about the fact that Tali had killed a man, the marks on her back had finally settled, they were now ropy scars, some had faded but the long one from shoulder to hip remained, it pained her sometimes if she over did herself but in whole she had returned to her normal perky self.

Going back to school had been hard, her second disappearance had been all over the news, telling everyone that she and her family had been abducted. Then after they had been rescued it had been all over the news that she had been shot and then news about her condition. So the moment she had stepped into the school people had been clamouring to know what had happened, asking how she had survived, her family had been very impressed and proud of how she had managed to keep her anger and frustration under control, the only person she had told was Chloe because she trusted her to not tell everyone. It hadn't helped that she couldn't do sports for a while, she began to become a lot like her mom, with lots of pent up energy, when she was finally allowed to do sports though every girl in the changing rooms had seen the scars that stretched across her back, which had started the gossip up again. It had been a while but eventually she was able to go back to her original life.

Tali stood and watched them get into the elevator, and then she called out "le׳hitra׳ot axar kax'' (see you soon), they all smiled and raised their hands in farewell, they would be back soon, and she would be there as always to greet them.

XOXOXOXO

And so the next day Tony and Ziva's little girl became a teenager, Tony was the one who panicked really, saying it was too soon, where as Ziva took things in her stride saying that the time always came quicker than it should. Tali was relaxed about it too, as it was the weekend they had the day off with her, they soon received a text from Gibbs, he said 'all of you meet me in the dock yard, dock 16' "wow" Tony said "what" Ziva asked "the fact that he didn't say happy birthday", Tali poked her head up and read the text "well I am more surprised by the fact that Gibbs can text" they all laughed.

Tali smiled at her parents her hand going down to the new Star of David around her neck that they had given her, she had lost her previous one to Dayan and his men, so Tony and Ziva had got her another one, for her birthday, one made of white gold on a strong but delicate white gold chain, it was the same as her mothers only Ziva's was gold rather than white gold.

XOXOXO

They went down to the dock yard and went to the dock that they had been instructed to go to, there they found a boat, painted bright colours and her name written in big bright swirling writing on the back: _Talia. _Tali gasped and then grinned running forward shouting "uncle Gibbs you finished it" Gibbs popped his head up "hey shortcake, happy birthday kiddo" he jumped onto the dock to hug her "not a kid anymore" she teased making him groan and ruffle her hair, "you finished her" Tali said again examining the boat in delight "yup" he said "she didn't need much more doing to her, just another coat of paint and a name, and I thought I should name her after her designer" Tali giggled in delight.

Gibbs stepped onto the boat, "coming aboard" he asked and assisted her onto the boat; she instantly went below deck to look around. Laughing Tony and Ziva clambered on "wow" Tony said looking around and poking his head below deck "not bad you two" his daughter and her godfather grinned at him making him smile, just then there was a squeal from behind and Tony cursed as he banged his head on the doorframe, Abby and McGee had arrived "happy Birthday Tali" Abby squealed as she scrambled aboard followed by McGee, Tali's smile grew as she was greeted by the rest of her family and with a smile and a sigh of happiness Ziva leaned her head on her husbands arm and closed her eyes, this was perfect. "ready to set sail Miss Tali" Gibbs asked "McGee, Abby and I have brought the party with us", Tali nodded in delight and they untied the boat and set sail.

The party was wonderful, they laughed and ate food and giggled, as it was the middle of summer Tony decided to have some fun so he scooped his daughter up and ignoring her shrieks jumped into the sea with her, everyone roared with laughter as they both resurfaced Tali spluttering indignantly, she got her own back by splashing water in his face when his mouth was open, "come on Zee, join us" Tony shouted "I'm good" Ziva shouted Tali and Tony both looked at each other, then swan back to the boat and hauling themselves onto the side, the next thing Ziva knew she had joined them back in the sea.

They spent the rest of the day, all of them jumping in and out of the water diving down and swimming around, Gibbs was glad he had brought blankets and towels to dry themselves with "maybe I should have put wear swim wear on the invites" Gibbs laughed looking at his team all soaking wet in their clothes, they all just grinned at him, before Tali leapt up and with a war cry launched herself over the edge diving below the surface, they watched her twist and move below the surface for a couple of minutes before she then broke the surface laughing loudly, she floated on her back until Tony and McGee jumped in at the same time sending a small wave over her, making her squeal again, she leapt onto her daddy's back laughing as she had as a tiny girl when he had carried her on his back in the swimming pool, Ziva watched them smiling, she really did love her family.

Soon it was time to head back, much to everyone's disappointment, Gibbs showed Tali how to work the boat and soon she was steering them in, with Gibbs' assistance when they approached the dock, once tied up, Tali hugged her godfather "thanks uncle Gibbs that was amazing" he chuckled gently and hugged her back "well its your boat as well so we can take it out again" her eyes widened "yes we must" she said firmly, he smiled at her as they all disembarked the boat, "enjoy the rest of your birthday shortcake" he murmured as he hugged her one last time, she giggled and nodded before releasing him to go say thank you and goodbye to Abby and McGee. Gibbs looked over his shoulder as he heard Tony and Ziva approaching "thanks boss, that was the best party she could have had" Tony said, Gibbs clapped him on the shoulder "no problem Tony she deserved it" they watched her hug Abby and McGee laughing, a smile on her face.

Then it was time to go and they rode back to their apartment in silence after saying their goodbyes, Ziva glanced into the back and smiled, Tony glanced into the rear view mirror and smiled too as he saw Tali fast asleep, absolutely exhausted, she was so tired she didn't even wake when they parked and Tony slid her into his arms and carried her to their floor, he lay her carefully on her bed and then went to shower, Ziva shook her daughter gently "oorah tateleh" (wake up darling) she said softly, Tali mumbled but opened her eyes sleepy, "you need to wash" Ziva said "your smelly" "Thanks" Tali mumbled, Tony came out then towelling his wet hair and with a sigh, Tali grabbed her PJ's and stumbled exhausted into the bathroom, when she emerged her hair was wet again but she didn't seem to care as she tumbled back into her bed and closed her eyes again shattered after her exciting party.

Tony felt exhausted too, after Ziva had also jumped in the shower they both fell into their bed and cuddled up together, Ziva closed her eyes but opened them as the mattress sagged and her daughter joined them showing that no matter how old she got she was never to old for hugs, she scrambled in-between them and Ziva pressed her lips to her daughters head "Yom Huledet Same'ach" she murmured (happy birthday) Tali sighed contentedly and together the family lay as one happy dysfunctional family

Ziva rolled over to look at Tony, who smiled and kissed her "do you like being a father Tony" she asked, he looked at her "oh come on Zee what do you think, I love being a father" he kissed the top of Tali's head and hugged her maybe to prove his point, Ziva stared at him for a minute before reaching out and placing his hand on her stomach "would you like to do it all again Tony" he stared at her, confused "what are you saying Zee" his eyes widened "Zee are you…" she nodded and smiled "yes Tony, I am pregnant"

Tony stared at her with joy in his eyes "oh Zee" he whispered and kissed her passionately "oh Zee" he said again and Ziva giggled in delight as she hugged him, they both looked down at Tali, soon to be a big sister "how far along are you" Tony whispered "two weeks" she whispered back "I only found out this morning, but I wanted to keep today as Tali's special day" and he grinned at her "so you are happy" she checked "yes Zee, I am the happiest man on the planet right now" she smiled and hugged him, "ready to start all over again" she asked, Tony kissed her "definitely" he said

**Well as much as it pains me to write it, but that was the last chapter of Out To Get You, I really hope you liked it, if you did why don't you tell me that by giving me a review, it doesn't have to be long it can just be a few words, even one word makes me happy.**

**Let me know whether you want the prequel or the sequel first might try and do them at the same time but I have a lot of other stories to update as well which I have been ignoring to try an finish this one.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, special thanks to the following for all their constant kind reviews:**

**HSMSupernatural**

**iloveNCIStiva**

**hxchick**

**ForeignMusicLyrics**

**Tiva4eva95**

**Esmerelda Diana Parker**

**NCIS Ziva DiNozzo**

**xoAllysonHannah**

**NCIS Connection**

**Thanks you guys, you were a real confidence booster for me in this story.**

**Well for the last time PLEASE REVIEW**

**Also if anyone wants a specific story, check out my profile and see if I know the show, or whatever and inbox me, I am happy to give it a go.**

**Thanks **

**Mysticgirl101**


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